Dallas Museum of Art Names Vivian Crockett Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art
THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART (DMA) has been shoring up its curatorial department over the past year. The latest addition is Vivian Crockett, who is joining the museum as assistant curator of contemporary art. Crockett brings expertise in art of the African and Latinx diasporas and the Americas. She is currently a Joan Tisch Teaching...
What to See in Los Angeles: 15 Exhibitions Feature Ja’Tovia Gary, Hank Willis Thomas, Betye Saar, Lauren Halsey, Julie Mehretu, Arcmanoro Niles, and More
IN LOS ANGELES, it’s art fair season. Frieze Los Angeles is open for its second year at Paramount Pictures Studios. Art Los Angeles Contemporary is happening at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is hosting the Felix art fair and Spring/Break is at Skylight ROW DTLA. At The Kinney in Venice, stARTup...
Houston-Based Artist Jamal D. Cyrus on Receiving 2020 David C. Driskell Prize: ‘The Symbolism is Extremely Important to Me’
THE HIGH MUSEUM OF ART in Atlanta named artist Jamal D. Cyrus recipient of the 2020 David C. Driskell Prize. Cyrus lives and works in Houston where his conceptual and research-driven practice mines American history with a focus on better understanding cultural and national heritage in the context of black political movements, social justice issues,...
Amoako Boafo is Latest Young Black Artist to Make Major Auction Debut
A RECENT PAINTING by Amoako Boafo portrays a woman with gray hair gathered on top of her head in a loose Afro puff. She’s lounging on a pool float, wearing a white one-piece bathing suit covered with a leafy lemon print. Her lips are red and a pair of sunglasses shields her eyes from...
Curator Denise Murrell and Art Historian Darby English to Receive 2020 Book Awards From College Art Association
THIS WEEK IN CHICAGO, the College Art Association (CAA) is holding its annual conference (Feb. 12-15). Amanda Williams, a Chicago-based artist who trained as an architect, is serving as keynote speaker. Kellie Jones will be honored during the Distinguished Scholar Session. And Huey Copeland, a professor of art history at Northwestern University and recipient...
Columbus Museum of Art Announces Faith Ringgold, Kellie Jones, and Curlee Raven Holton Will Select Artist for 2020 Residency Honoring Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson
NARRATING AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (1940-2015) worked with a variety of materials, from fabric, to paint, clay, and found materials, making two- and three-dimensional works. Her paintings, quilts, and sculpture, many of them large-scale and made over many years, explored the experiences and legacy of her family, local community, and the...
Photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier is Inaugural Recipient of Gordon Parks Foundation/Steidl Book Prize
THE GORDON PARKS FOUNDATION in Pleasantville, N.Y., provides support and opportunities to artists whose practices “reflect and extend” the legacy of Gordon Parks, using photography as a tool for social justice and cultural change. Extending its program of scholarships, awards, and fellowships, the foundation announced a new book prize established in partnership with Steidl, the...
Hirshhorn Museum Plans First U.S. Retrospective of Sam Gilliam in 15+ Years
“Light Depth” (1969) by Sam Gilliam THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., plans an expansive look at the six-decade career of pioneering abstractionist Sam Gilliam. Exploring key moments in his innovative painting practice, the retrospective will open at the Smithsonian museum on the National Mall in spring 2022. “Inspired by the...
Culture Type: The Year in Black Art 2019
ONCE RELEGATED TO THE MARGINS, artists of African descent continued to migrate toward the center of the art world in 2019, claiming space on just about every front as the decade came to a close. Black contemporary artists won many of the year’s most prestigious and lucrative international art prizes. They shared their work...
After Making Images That Reflect the Sweeping Legacy of Slavery, Photographer Dannielle Bowman Looks Closer to Home
DANNIELLE BOWMAN, “Inglewood,” 2019 (digital pigment print, 20 x 25 inches). | © Dannielle Bowman AN ENDLESS EXPANSE of dark, open waters illustrates the cover of The New York Times Magazine’s groundbreaking examination of the legacy of slavery in America: The 1619 Project. The black-and-white photograph captures the distant horizon near a Hampton, Va.,...
Paintings by 20th Century Giants Alma Thomas, Norman Lewis, and Charles White Smashed Auction Records at Evening Sales in New York
THREE GIANTS of 20th century American art were represented in the evening auctions of contemporary art at Sotheby’s and Christie’s for the first time in November. The auction houses offer only a few dozen works in their evening auctions and the coveted slots are reserved for premier works by important artists. Significant works by...
Artist Kehinde Wiley Talks About President Obama and His ‘Rumors of War’ Monument on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
VISITING THE DAILY SHOW, Kehinde Wiley discussed his recent projects with host Trevor Noah. Wiley explained the symbolism of “Rumors of War,” his largest work to date depicting a young black man with dreads, wearing a hoodie and Jordans, astride a horse. Standing 27 feet high, the monumental work debuted in Times Square in...
Backstory: Wayde McIntosh Made a Prize-Winning Portrait of Friend and Fellow Artist Jordan Casteel
VISITING THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY for the first time in 2006 turned out to be a meaningful experience for Wayde McIntosh. Studying for a BFA in painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art, he made the short trip from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., specifically to see the inaugural exhibition of the Outwin Boochever...
Disembodiment: A New Generation of Painters is Reframing the Narrative Around Blackness and the Black Body
“Pac Thugz Mansion” (2019) by Jerrell Gibbs RENDERED IN SOFT FOCUS, a glimpse of nude figures diving into an expansive body of blue water is seen through an opening of low-hanging foliage. It’s a view that could take on any number of interpretations. The painting by Jerrell Gibbs is a vision of freedom and...
Obama Portraits Inspire Soon-to-be-Released Book and Five-City Tour in 2021
WHEN THE OFFICIAL PORTRAITS of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery on Feb. 12, 2018, they garnered praise and endless opinions and inspired “pilgrimages” to Washington, D.C., to view them. Now the portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald have inspired a five-city national tour...
Latest News in African American Art: Henry Taylor and Simone Leigh Join Hauser & Wirth, United States Artists 2020 Fellows, Made in L.A. 2020 Artist List & More
Artists Simone Leigh and Henry Taylor have joined Hauser & Wirth. The following review presents a snapshot of recent news in African American art and related black culture: REPRESENTATION One of the world’s largest galleries with nine locations (and a 10th planned in Menorca), Hauser & Wirth started off the new year with...
Zoé Whitley Tapped as Director of London’s Chisenhale Gallery
CHISENHALE GALLERY in London’s East End has hired Zoé Whitley as its next leader. An American-born curator, over nearly two decades, Whitley has built a formidable career based in London, producing insightful, innovative, and inclusive exhibitions and programming at major UK museums and galleries. Whitley has been serving as senior curator at Hayward Gallery...
Culture Talk: Collector Pamela Joyner on the Artists Defining the History and Shaping the Future of Black Abstract Art
SINCE 1999, PAMELA J. JOYNER and Alfred J. Giuffrida have focused their collecting on abstract art by artists of African descent. Nearing 100 artists, the collection is documented in a hefty volume, “Four Generations: The Joyner / Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art,” and a traveling exhibition. After touring four museums, “Solidary & Solitary: The...
Extraordinary Frederick Douglass Archive Inspired an Exhibition and Ceremonial Tribute Staged by Artist Raphaël Barontini
The exhibition “Frederick Douglass: Embers of Freedom” at the SCAD Museum of Art was accompanied by “The Golden March,” a special commission by artist Raphaël Barontini composed of a marching band performance and site-specific installations. | Photography Courtesy of SCAD SAVANNAH, GA.—Carrying flags and banners bearing the image of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), the Savannah...
Faith Ringgold Painting Covers Artforum, Inside Kerry James Marshall Writes About ‘Black Artists in Unexpected Places’
PICASSO’S “GUERNICA” (1937) is admired and respected by many artists, including Kerry James Marshall and Faith Ringgold. In 1980, Marshall’s first trip to New York—and first flight on an airplane—was made expressly to see the grand work on loan from Spain at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Ringgold has described “Guernica” as her...
