Weekend Listening: Hilton Als Talks with Toni Morrison, Thelma Golden and Khandi Alexander
TODAY HILTON ALS GUEST HOSTED STUDIO 360, the public radio program about the arts and the people who are shaping our culture. Filling in for regular host Kurt Andersen, the New Yorker critic took full advantage of the opportunity, delivering engaging conversations with three groundbreaking women in the arts. Nobel Prize-winning author Toni...
Thelma Golden on the Studio Museum’s ‘Clear Mission’
SIMILAR TO AN INNOVATIVE IDEA or a smart strategy, a sound mission will stand the test of time. When the Studio Museum in Harlem was established in 1968, its purpose was to serve as a nexus for black artists, to provide a platform for exposure and serve as a resource in an art...
The Week in Black Art | Sept. 13 – 19, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring new MacArthur fellow Rick Lowe, curator Okwui Enwezor, black comics, the Cosby art collection, the art world’s gender gap, the unveiling of Frederick Douglass portrait at governor’s mansion in Maryland, Shinique Smith, Toyin Odutola, and more Artful Genius: Rick...
On PBS, An Engaging Portrait of Kehinde Wiley
FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, Kehinde Wiley has been painting regal portraits of men of color. First focusing on young African American men in Harlem, Wiley eventually expanded his oeuvre and launched his World Stage series featuring “urban” men in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. His contemporary subjects replicate poses...
Picturing the Black Diaspora
FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF ERNEST COLE documenting blacks during apartheid-era South Africa and the work of Royal Court Photographer Chief S.O. Alonge in Benin, Nigeria, to Dean Chalkley’s images of Jamaican ‘Rude Boys’ in Britain, several recent and current exhibitions are presenting photography that documents the rich history, style and culture found throughout the...
Cover Worthy: David Hammons Body Print Graces Phillips Auction Catalog
Lot 48: DAVID HAMMONS, “Moving to the Other Side,” 1969 (silkscreen on wove paper). Estimate $100,000-$150,000. Sold for $112,000 (including fees) WHEN PHILLIPS CONTEMPORARY ART AUCTION gets underway tomorrow morning, a central highlight of the show will be an early work on paper by David Hammons (b. 1943). “Moving to the Other Side,” one...
Art Agenda | Sept. 15-21, 2014
ART AGENDA LISTS UPCOMING EVENTS, must-see exhibition openings and interesting talks happening this week in black art. There are myriad activities across the nation from San Diego, Chicago and Minneapolis, to Boston, New York and Washington D.C. Today’s edition features “Funk, God, Jazz, Medicine: Black Radical Brooklyn,” Rashid Johnson’s production of “Dutchman,” Phillips “Under...
Artforum: Thomas J. Lax Previews Chris Ofili’s Fall Exhibition
ONE OF FALL’S MOST ANTICIPATED MUSEUM SHOWS is “Night and Day,” Chris Ofili’s forthcoming exhibition at the New Museum on Oct. 29. His first solo museum show in the United States will be presented on all three gallery floors and survey his entire career. Exploring race and gender issues through cultural and historical references,...
The Week in Black Art | Sept. 6 – 12, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring performance art at MOCA LA, Swann’s forthcoming African American art auction, the passing of Detroit artist Gilda Snowden, and more MOCA LA is Embracing Lives Art Programming Again The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is gearing up for Step...
New Autograph ABP Exhibition is Latest Exploration of Early Images of Blacks
THROUGHOUT THE AFRICAN DIASPORA the image and representation of black people have been fraught with a history of power, subjugation, racism and stereotype. For generations, the black community was largely absent from the visual record of societies from Europe to the Americas. When blacks lacked the means and agency to control their own images,...
A Browse Through the ‘Ideal Bookshelf’ of Hilton Als
THE IDEAL BOOKSHELF of Hilton Als is an economic selection of seven books including “The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985” by James Baldwin and titles by Marcel Proust, Truman Capote, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Anton Checkhov. The New Yorker writer’s choices are included in “My Ideal Bookshelf,” a compilation of artist Jane Mount’s...
Stephen Burks: The Design World’s Global Ambassador
DESIGN IS ABOUT PROBLEM SOLVING and for a decade Stephen Burks has been offering innovative solutions. The New York-based designer collaborates with artisans in South Africa, Peru, Colombia and Haiti, helping them hone their designs and access new markets and partners with high-end European brands to create luxury products with a global sensibility. Along...
Art Agenda | Sept. 8-14, 2014
ART AGENDA LISTS UPCOMING EVENTS, must-see exhibition openings and interesting talks happening this week in black art. Today’s edition features a Carrie Mae Weems talk in Brooklyn, a conversation with Nick Cave about his new monograph, exhibitions featuring Chakaia Booker, Kehinde Wiley, Derrick Adams, Fahamou Pecou and more: Monday, Sept. 15, 2014 DEADLINE...
The Week in Black Art | Aug. 30 – Sept. 5, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Shinique Smith, Mark Bradford, Nick Cave, a documentary about black photographers and more Detail of “Majesty” 2012 (ink and acrylic on canvas over panel) by Shinique Smith via MFA Boston Shinique Smith Responds to 21 Questions “Bright Matter” at...
Fall Preview: The Season’s 16 Most-Anticipated Art Exhibitions
THE NEW EXHIBITION SEASON IS UNDERWAY and fall’s most anticipated museum and gallery shows are opening soon. In the coming months, 16 exhibitions will feature highly regarded and innovative black artists working across a range of mediums. Chris Ofili’s first major solo museum exhibition in the United States opens at the New Museum on Oct....
Art Agenda | Sept. 1 – 7, 2014
ART AGENDA IS A LISTING OF MUST-SEE EXHIBITION OPENINGS and interesting talks and events happening this week in black art. Today’s edition features a pair of much-antipated exhibitions of new works by Nick Cave at Jack Shainman Gallery, art and civil rights at Dartmouth, a Hank Willis Thomas public art installation in Chicago, Kara...
The Week in Black Art | Aug. 23 – 29, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Afropunk portraits, Kara Walker, Rashaad Newsome and more Vogue Publishes Afropunk Hair Portraits by Awol Erizku Vogue.com dispatched Awol Erizku to the 10th annual Afropunk Festival in Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn to document the fabulous, natural and architectural hairstyles...
Studio Museum in Harlem Makes Two Major Announcements
EARLIER THIS WEEK, the Studio Museum in Harlem made two major announcements. The storied institution that describes itself as a nexus for artists of African descent has tapped Amanda Hunt (at right) to join its curatorial team. The Philadelphia native will serve as assistant curator, filling a coveted post left vacant when Thomas J. Lax...
Kara Walker Pitcher Elicits a Difference of Opinion
JUXTAPOSITION CAN BE INCREDIBLY ILLUMINATING. Earlier this year, Kara Walker collaborated with Bernardaud and LizWorks to create a limited-edition porcelain pitcher and this week the New York Times asked J. Crew Creative Director Jenna Lyons and singer-songwriter Courtney Love what they thought about it. In a new feature called “Take Two: A Dual Review...
Smithsonian Announces Nominees for James Dicke Prize
From left, artists Dave McKenzie, Mickalene Thomas, Julie Mehretu, and Theaster Gates. DAVE MCKENZIE, MICKALENE THOMAS, JULIE MEHRETU, Njideka Akunyili and Theaster Gates are in good company. The artists are among 13 nominated for the biennial James Dicke Contemporary Art Prize. The Smithsonian American Art Museum announced the nominees on Aug. 14. Established by...
