Priceless History: Johnson Publishing Photography and Media Archive Up for Auction This Week
BEGINNING IN THE MID-20TH CENTURY, Johnson Publishing dominated the media landscape disseminating images of African Americans that defined black identity during an unprecedented period of progress and change. The photography published in Ebony and Jet magazines established a visual language and black aesthetic that came to represent the African American experience. It’s hard to...
Flag Flying: Artists Are Using the Symbolic Medium to Raise Political and Social Issues
WHAT TO THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTIST is the Fourth of July? Is it consumed by fireworks and barbecue or grounded, perhaps, in the words of Frederick Douglass? On July 5, 1852, Douglass gave a historic address in Rochester, N.Y., at an event commemorating the Declaration of Independence. He said in part: What, to the...
Ta-Nehisi Coates is Launching His First Novel ‘The Water Dancer’ at Apollo Theater, a Spelman Alum Illustrated the Cover
THE NATIONAL BOOK TOUR for “The Water Dancer,” the first novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates, will kick off at the Apollo Theater on Sept. 23. Coates will be in conversation with Oprah Winfrey. The author, who testified before Congress two weeks ago about reparations for African Americans, will serve as the inaugural artist-in-residence at the...
Works by 21 Artists are Featured in ‘Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,’ a New Documentary About the Acclaimed Author
THE POSTER PROMOTING a new documentary about Toni Morrison gives an indication of what’s to come in the film. A collage portrait by artist Mickalene Thomas depicts the Nobel Prize-winning author against a vivid fuchsia background. A live-action version of the portrait opens the film. The poster graphic comes together through a process of...
MLK Day: From Los Angeles to New York, Art Museums are Celebrating the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., looks out at crowd in Montgomery, Ala., 1965 | Courtesy Stephen Somerstein ART MUSEUMS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES are celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., on Monday, Jan. 21, the official federal King Day holiday. This year’s commemoration of King’s birthday marks 90 years since he was born...
New Short Documentary Gives a Voice to the Women Who For Generations Have Been Making Artful Quilts in Gee’s Bend, Ala.
Gee’s Bend Quilter Mary Lee Bendolph AFTER MAKING A CAPTIVATING documentary about artist and musician Lonnie Holley, Maris Curran has trained her lens on the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Ala. In 2016, Curran delivered a brief but memorable portrait of Birmingham, Ala.-born Holley. “The Man is the Music” documents his work and shares the...
Election 2018: Artists and Museums are Shining a Light on Democracy, Freedom, and the Importance of Voting
Trevor Paglen for For Freedoms NATIONWIDE THE ENERGY AND URGENCY surrounding the midterm elections is translating into record voter turnout. More than 31.5 million early and absentee votes have been been cast thus far. Days remain before Election Day and advanced balloting in 22 states and the District of Columbia has already exceeded total...
Amid Rising Calls for Social Justice in America, the Clenched Fist is Appearing in Artwork and Museums
From left, “Bridge” by Glenn Kaino; Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos at the 1968 Summer Olympics. THE CLENCHED FIST, a symbol of Black Power and strength in the face of adversity, is showing up in museums. The historic gesture reflects the current moment in which many groups, frustrated with the political climate and...
Broadway Bound: Musical About Legendary Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in Development
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988) is Broadway bound. A musical about the storied artist’s life is in the works, composed by Jon Batiste, the bandleader and musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. The project is produced by Alan D. Marks and Barbara Marks. Tony winner John Doyle (“The Color Purple”) has...
Issa Rae Wore a Carrie Mae Weems T-Shirt on Last Sunday’s Episode of ‘Insecure’
ISSA RAE OFTEN WEARS statement T-shirts on HBO’s “Insecure.” In recent episodes, her tees have declared “Love is Al Green” and promoted “Inglewood” and “N.W.A.” Another said “Mood” under a portrait of Nina Simone. When she went to the California African American Museum in Season Two, her shirt said, “The Last Poets.” It’s seven...
Two Decades After Anita Hill Testified Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, She Started a Conversation with Mark Bradford About His Art and Practice
Professor Anita Hill and artist Mark Bradford (2014) GLUED TO THEIR TELEVISIONS, most Americans “met” Anita F. Hill on Oct. 11, 1991. That’s how Mark Bradford was introduced to her, too. In Los Angeles, in the neighborhood of Leimert Park, the TV in the beauty salon owned by his mother, Janice Banks, was tuned...
Pyer Moss Staged a Powerful, Art-Inspired Runway Show at Historic Black Heritage Site
WITH LIGHT RAIN FALLING, four dozen black models walked the grounds of Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night. A 40-person gospel choir wearing flowing white robes and Reebok tennis shoes sang live during the 23-minute runway show. Outfitted in fabrics with painterly images of African Americans, the models paraded by with purpose...
Barry Jenkins Shared Trailer for ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ on Baldwin’s Birthday
TO CELEBRATE JAMES BALDWIN’S BIRTHDAY, Barry Jenkins shared the trailer for “If Beale Street Could Talk” on Twitter. He wrote, “For me, August 2nd has always been a day to pay tribute, so… a teaser of what’s to come. Happy Birthday, Jimmy 🙏🏿🙌🏿♥️” Baldwin was born Aug. 2, 1924, and he published “If Beale...
For Faith Ringgold, the American Flag Has Always Been a Potent and Powerful Symbol
“Flag Story Quilt” (1985) by Faith Ringgold is currently on view at the Spencer Museum of Art. THE AMERICAN FLAG, its design and all that it symbolizes, is the basis for some of the most politically potent and astute work Faith Ringgold has made over the past half century. In 1970, she helped organize...
Mona Lisa, Baby: Beyoncé and Jay-Z Take Over the Louvre in New Video
FOR THEIR LATEST VIDEO, Beyoncé and Jay-Z took over the Louvre, stunting and styling through the galleries without a tourist in sight. The Paris museum played host to the Carters who dropped a surprise album on Saturday. The nine-track collaborative project is titled “Everything is Love” and both artists appear on every track including...
Basel and Beyond: Overdue Recognition of African American Artists at Home is Generating Unprecedented Curatorial and Collector Interest Throughout Europe
“The Music of Color: Sam Gilliam, 1967-1973” recently opened in Basel, Switzerland. THE GALLERIES OF KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL are alive with color in the form of 45 abstract paintings by Sam Gilliam. “The Music of Color: Sam Gilliam, 1967-1973” is the Washington, D.C.-based artist’s first solo survey exhibition in a European museum. The show is...
British Artist Steve McQueen’s Latest Film is a Heist Thriller Starring Viola Davis
Viola Davis leads an ensemble cast in Steve McQueen’s latest film “Widows.” | Screenshot from Trailer A DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, screenwriter, and video artist, Steve McQueen has a dual career making movies for museums and movies for the cineplex. In the art world, recent video installations have included “End Credits,” an homage to Paul Robeson,...
In a New Documentary, 4 Los Angeles Area Artists Explore the Creative and Practical Implications of Motherhood
Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle is among the artists profiled in the documentary “Artist and Mother.” | Video by KCET DOES MOTHERHOOD ALTER an artist’s practice or change her work and approach to creativity? It’s a question rarely discussed publicly that a new documentary takes on and addresses directly. “You have very significant successful artists and...
A New Documentary About André Leon Talley Traces His Southern Roots and Unimaginable Rise in High Fashion
A WISE AND SEASONED arbiter of style, André Leon Talley has been cutting a fabulous figure in the fashion world for more than 40 years. Before he became a fixture at Vogue, he worked at Andy Warhol’s Factory, volunteered with Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, and did stints at...
It’s World Book Day. Have You Read an Exhibition Catalog in the Past Year?
Johnson Publishing Library Archive at Rebuild Foundation, Chicago (April 23, 2016). | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine TODAY IS WORLD BOOK DAY, what are you reading? An exhibition catalog or critical text perhaps? Designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Book and Copyright Day celebrates and promotes books, reading,...
