Frieze New York: Franklin Sirmans is Channeling Just Above Midtown Gallery and the Pioneering Vision of Linda Goode Bryant
JUST ABOVE MIDTOWN (JAM) was a solution to a problem. Linda Goode Bryant founded the New York City art gallery in 1974. When the city’s museums and art galleries were less than welcoming to black artists, Bryant didn’t see the point in protesting or advocating for inclusion. Why beg to be recognized, she thought,...
Repurposed Quilt Work by Sanford Biggers Sets an Artist Record at Phillips London
THE NEW NOW SALE at Phillips London yielded six artist records, including a new benchmark for Sanford Biggers. “Sag, Harbor Honeystuckle” (2013) by Biggers sold for £27,500 ($35,945) fees included, an artist record, according to the auction house and the Artprice database. The mixed-media work is a repurposed quilt with fabric collage, acrylic, and...
Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated Sale Offered Look at Rarely Seen Works by Faith Ringgold, Henry Taylor, Robert Colescott, Romare Bearden, Jack Whitten & More
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS figured prominently in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Curated auction. Works by 32 African American artists were offered, some rarely if ever shown publicly including a 2002 portrait of Malcolm X by Henry Taylor acquired directly from the artist and a pair of Robert Colescott interior scenes that give a nod to Roy...
Post-World Politics: Rushern Baker IV’s Bold Abstractions are Fraught with Urgency and Anxiety
FOR HIS FIRST EXHIBITION at Hemphill Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., Rushern Baker IV is presenting new paintings made between 2017 and 2019. Drawing on the current political climate, the works are fraught with urgency and anxiety. The unease is unrelenting. Baker’s energetic and frenetic abstractions invoke a range of concerns, from the perils...
Artist Deborah Roberts Joined Vielmetter Los Angeles and Has an Exhibition at Gallery’s New Downtown Space
Deborah Roberts is presenting “Native Sons: Many thousands gone” at Vielmetter Los Angeles VIELMETTER LOS ANGELES announced its representation of Deborah Roberts in late February and her first exhibition with the gallery opened last week. Roberts is known primarily for her collage on paper works. The Austin, Texas-based artist makes abstracted representations of black...
Emory Douglas: ‘I Was the Revolutionary Artist of the Black Panther Party’
Emory Douglas talks about his graphic design work. His images have become synonymous with the visual identity of the Black Panther Party. | Video by AIGA THE GRAPHIC IMAGES of Emory Douglas communicated the Black Panther Party’s platform and programs. From 1967 to the early 1980s he developed the organization’s visual identity. He served...
On View: ‘Redaction: A Project by Titus Kaphar and Reginald Dwayne Betts’ at MoMA PS1, Queens, New York
TITUS KAPHAR and REGINALD DWAYNE BETTS, “Untitled (from the Redaction project),” 2019 (etching and silkscreen on paper, 22 x 30 inches). | Image courtesy Titus Kaphar Studio, Photo by Merik Goma On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions REDACTION is a collaboration between artist Titus Kaphar and attorney Reginald Dwayne Betts, who have...
San Francisco Art Institute Commencement to Honor Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas
MEMBERS OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY will be honored at the San Francisco Art Institute’s commencement on May 18. Emory Douglas, artist and minister of culture for the Black Panther Party, is receiving an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, which is described as the highest honor bestowed by the institution. Fellow Panther Party members...
American Academy of Arts & Sciences Announces 2019 Members Including Artist Mark Bradford, Scholar/Curator Kellie Jones, and Poet Elizabeth Alexander
MORE THAN 200 high-achieving individuals have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On April 17, the academy announced new members for 2019 include poet and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation president Elizabeth Alexander, artist Mark Bradford, Columbia University scholar/curator Kellie Jones, First Lady Michelle Obama, and actress and playwright Anna Deavere...
Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary African Art Sale in London Yields 11 Artist Records, El Anatsui Tapestry is Top Lot, Again
SOTHEBY’S LONDON has held four sales dedicated to modern and contemporary African art and tapestries by El Anatsui have topped three of them, including the most recent on April 2. A 10-foot sculptural tapestry composed of aluminum bottle caps and copper wire, “Zebra Crossing 2” (shown above) was made in 2007 and exceeded expectations....
Charles Gaines is Latest in Long Line of Great Artists to Receive MacDowell Medal
LOS ANGELES-BASED Charles Gaines is the latest recipient of the prestigious Edward MacDowell Medal. The MacDowell Colony announced last week that Gaines was selected for the honor. He will receive the 60th MacDowell Medal on Aug. 11 at a free public event on the grounds of the colony in Peterborough, N.H. The recognition comes as...
Artists Wangechi Mutu and Kara Walker Land Major Museum Commissions
Wangechi Mutu at the Metropolitan Museum of Art THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART in New York and the Tate Modern in London recently announced new artist commissions. The Met plans a series of contemporary art installations at its Fifth Avenue flagship. For one of the projects, Wangechi Mutu is creating sculptures that will be...
Wil Haygood Accepts Award for ‘I Too Sing America’ Exhibition Catalog and Cites Longstanding Connections to Harlem
COLLEGE PARK, MD. — After writing biographies of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Sammie Davis Jr., Sugar Ray Robinson, and Thurgood Marshall, and a feature article published in The Washington Post that inspired the film “The Butler,” Wil Haygood authored his first exhibition catalog. “I Too Sing America: The Harlem Renaissance at 100” (Rizzoli Electa,...
Swann African American Art Sale Yields Records for Women Artists Including Simone Leigh, Emma Amos, and Howardena Pindell, Top Lot by Norman Lewis
THE LATEST SALE of African-American Fine Art at Swann Auction Galleries resulted in auction records for several living women artists, including Simone Leigh, Emma Amos and Howardena Pindell. In addition, works by Sonya Clark and Allison Janae Hamilton appeared at auction for the first time and established benchmarks well above their estimates. Lot 171:...
Glenn Ligon, Known for His Text-Based Paintings, Has Joined Hauser & Wirth
HAUSER & WIRTH is now representing artist Glenn Ligon. The gallery officially announced the news today, following an article about the representation published yesterday in ARTnews that cited an earlier report from Baer Faxt, a newsletter the covers the art industry. With language as a guiding force, Ligon explores American history and the African...
Brooklyn-Based Artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn is Now Represented by Gagosian
GAGOSIAN ANNOUNCED its representation of Nathaniel Mary Quinn yesterday. Working with family photos and images from fashion magazines, Quinn makes composite portraits that draw on memory and explore the complex relationship between reality and perception. He lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y. Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s mother died when he was a teenager. He...
On View: ‘Rashid Johnson: It Never Entered My Mind’ at Hauser & Wirth, St. Moritz
“Untitled (Broken Men)” (2018) by Rashid Johnson On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions NEW WORKS by Rashid Johnson are on view in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Featured at Hauser & Wirth, the paintings, sculptures, and drawings build on themes Johnson has explored previously. Broken Men is a series of mosaic tile paintings that...
San Francisco Bound: Another Stop Added to ‘Soul of a Nation’ Tour, Exhibition Headed to de Young Museum This Fall
“What’s Goin On” (1974) by Barkley L. Hendricks A SECOND CALIFORNIA STOP has been added to the “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power” tour. The exhibition is headed to the de Young Museum in San Francisco, where it will open Nov. 9. “Soul of a Nation” presents about 150...
Latest News in African American Art: Eric Mack Installation Vanishes, Harvard Sued Over Slave Photographs, Frieze Sculptures by Nick Cave, Hank Willis Thomas, and More
Installation view of “Halter” (2019) by Eric N. Mack at Desert X The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related black culture: Harvard Sued for Profiting From Images of Slaves Tamara Lanier of Norwich, Conn., is suing Harvard for “wrongful...
Early Photograph of Harriet Tubman Displayed Publicly for First Time at Smithsonian African American Museum
A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN photograph of Harriet Tubman (c. 1822-1913) depicts her seated with her arm draped over the back of a chair. Impeccably dressed, she wears a full skirt and buttoned bodice with detailed stitching on the sleeves. Believed to be the earliest image of Tubman in existence, the portrait of the storied abolitionist...
