On the Rise: 54 Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in 2020
REGULAR OPERATIONS AT MUSEUMS and cultural institutions were disrupted this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector faced (and continues to contend with) temporary closures, severe financial losses, widespread layoffs, and racial reckonings. Against this backdrop and despite these challenges, dozens of Black curators were appointed to a variety of new posts this...
Sam Gilliam on His New Work at Pace Gallery: ‘I Am Trying to Express Something That is Contemporary’
THE SIX-DECADE CAREER of Sam Gilliam has been defined by a commitment to color and a penchant for invention, innovation, and charting his own path. In the mid-1960s, Gilliam developed two new formats for presenting his work. He began wrapping his canvases on top of frames, creating his signature Beveled-Edge paintings. Then he removed...
Eclipsing $4 Million, Barkley L. Hendricks Painting ‘Mr. Johnson (Sammy From Miami)’ Sets New Auction Record at Sotheby’s
A RECORD BREAKER opened the Impressionist, Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale conducted by Sotheby’s New York last week. The first lot was a 1972 portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017). His subject in “Mr. Johnson (Sammy From Miami)” wears a football jersey and a red visor atop a vertically impressive afro. He’s holding...
‘Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi’ Exhibition Catalog Wins Publication Award
PUBLISHED TO DOCUMENT her solo exhibition at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta, “Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi” is the first major publication to explore the work of artist Deborah Roberts. It’s an exceptional volume and an award winner. “Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi” received a 2020 Mary Ellen...
Auction Record: Betye Saar’s Mixed-Media Meditation on Black Education Sells for Nearly $82,000 at Sotheby’s
AN ASSEMBLAGE WORK by Betye Saar set a new artist record at auction recently. “ABCD Education” (2001) sold for $81,900 at an online sale hosted by Sotheby’s. The result was nearly three times the high estimate ($20,000-$30,000) setting a new benchmark. Saar’s work can be read as a meditation on Black education that comments...
Victoria Miro Gallery Now Represents Painter Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
Painter Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, 2019. | Photo © Jo Metson Scott VICTORIA MIRO IN LONDON has added Kudzanai-Violet Hwami (b. 1993, Zimbabwe) to its roster. Hwami’s work explores themes of identity, displacement, the diaspora, and the Black body, often in the form of intimate nudes. Working with sourced images and family photographs, she makes figurative...
Amy Sherald Painting Skyrockets to Record-Setting $4.2 Million at Phillips, Works by 4 More Black Artists Set New Benchmarks
A DOUBLE PORTRAIT by Amy Sherald set an astronomic new auction record Dec. 7 at Phillips New York. “The Bathers” (2015) soared to $4,265,000 against a low-six figure estimate of $150,000-$200,000. The painting sold for about 20 times its high estimate with bidding ongoing for 15 minutes. “The Bathers” was the first lot in...
Envisioned by the Late Artist Himself, New Ernie Barnes Exhibition Brings His Figurative Paintings to Life
Installation view of “Ernie Barnes: Liberating Humanity From Within.” | Photo by Jeff McLane, Courtesy UTA Artist Space THEIR INITIAL SIT DOWN was highly productive, a real meeting of minds. Luz Rodriguez manages the estate of artist Ernie Barnes (1938-2009). Arthur Lewis is creative director of UTA Fine Arts & UTA Artist Space. Just...
Culture Type 2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Artist-Inspired Ideas for Everyone on Your List
FAITH RINGGOLD COLLABORATED with Vans and the Museum of Modern Art. The estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat partnered with Coach and Derrick Adams joined forces with a swimsuit brand. Considering an art-inspired gift? This year, highly acclaimed Black artists have made their work more accessible to wider audiences in the form of products such as...
Black Motherhood and American Mourning: After Challenging Historic Narratives, Titus Kaphar Confronts Contemporary Realities
FOR HIS FIRST EXHIBITION since joining Gagosian in April, Titus Kaphar is showing a series of new paintings. “Titus Kaphar: From a Tropical Space” is on view in New York. Kaphar has developed a practice around challenging art historical images from the 18th and 19th centuries and the American history narratives they normalize. He...
Yesomi Umolu is Tapped for Top Curatorial Post at The Serpentine in London
THE SERPENTINE in London has appointed Yesomi Umolu director of curatorial affairs and public practice. In the newly created position, Umolu will lead all of Serpentine’s curatorial, educational, and editorial programming. The news was announced Nov. 18. Founded in 1970, Serpentine is marking a half century of presenting contemporary art this year and is taking...
National Museum of Women in the Arts is Presenting First Survey of Textile and Social Practice Artist Sonya Clark in March 2021
“Afro Abe II” (2010) by Sonya Clark THE SINGULAR PRACTICE of Sonya Clark will be showcased for the first time with a full-scale survey at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. A textile and social practice artist, Clark explores issues of race, identity, visibility, and Blackness, expressing herself...
Phillips is Hosting a Selling Exhibition With Dindga McCannon Whose Mixed-Media Works Center Black Women
“Women in Jazz Saturday” (2020) by Dindga McCannon EMPLOYING TRADITIONAL QUILTING TECHNIQUES in combination with paint, printed images, and beaded embellishments, mixed-media works by Dindga McCannon reference the March on Washington and Monet’s Garden and pay tribute to Maya Angelou, Faith Ringgold, Nelson Mandela, Mariam Makeba, women in jazz, and Lavinia Williams, a lead...
On View: ‘Caroline Kent: A Sudden Appearance of the Sun’ at Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions FOR HER FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION with Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, Caroline Kent is presenting a suite of large-scale paintings. Kent explores the intersection of language, abstraction, and painting. She begins by covering her canvases with black paint, creating a “non-space” of “unlocatability.” From there, the...
Auction Results: Sotheby’s Evening Sale Featured Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Kerry James Marshall, and Jordan Casteel, Acclaimed Painters Who Focus on the Figure
WORKS BY THREE BLACK ARTISTS, who are among the most critically recognized painters focused on figuration and Black subjects, were featured in Sotheby’s latest Contemporary Art Evening Auction, held on Oct. 28 in New York. The sale included 41 lots showcasing premium artworks by highly regarded artists. “Barbershop” by Jordan Casteel opened the auction....
Across the Nation: 5 Photography Exhibitions Showcase Works by Kay Hickman, Awol Erizku, John Edmonds, Lyle Ashton Harris, and Young Genre-Bending Image Makers
FROM ST. LOUIS TO MIAMI and New York, five photography exhibitions are showcasing the work of Black image makers. John Edmonds, Awol Erizku, and a new generation of fast-rising photographers are exploring fashion, art history, and contemporary culture. On the documentary front, two photographers capture New York. Lyle Ashton Harris’s archival work tracks the...
Rev. William J. Barber II on Ascension of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris: ‘You Are the Light of the World’
Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on Nov. 7, 2020 PERFORMANCE ART takes many forms. On Sunday, it was realized in the impassioned sermon preached by Rev. William J. Barber II from the pulpit of his Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C. Invoking history, astronomy, and the lyrics of Mary J. Blige, he said Vice President-Elect...
Decade After Portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks Sold for $48,000 at Swann Auction, Sotheby’s is Asking More Than $2 Million
A PAINTING MADE 45 YEARS AGO by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) is being offered next week at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Day Auction in New York. “Jackie Sha-La-La (Jackie Cameron)” (1975) is a seated portrait of a female subject. The painting sold for $48,000 (fees included) at Swann Auction Galleries in 2010. A decade later,...
America the Beautiful: Vision of Artist Lorraine O’Grady and Voice of Ray Charles Inspire New Biden-Harris Video
A NEW VIDEO produced by the Biden-Harris campaign, captures Americans from all walks of life at home and work, in bustling cities and expansive rural landscapes, from sea to shining sea. With the Ray Charles rendition of “America the Beautiful” serving as the soundtrack, the video depicts Americans holding up ornate gold picture frames,...
Artist Emma Amos on Her Falling Series: I Liked the Idea Somebody Was ‘Trying to Catch You’ or ‘Holding Onto You’
IN THIS MOMENT OF CHALLENGES, uncertainty, and promise, Ryan Lee Gallery is presenting a timely exhibition of works by Emma Amos (1937-2020). “Emma Amos: Falling Figures” brings together figurative paintings that depict bodies in free fall—indeterminable states of abandon, loss, anxiety, rescue, and trust. This exhibition is the first dedicated to the falling figure...
