On View: ‘Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame’ at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles, Portrait Artist Explores Cultural History of Boxing in Ghana
Installation view of “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame,” Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, Calif., 2024. | Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson THE POWERFUL PORTRAITS of Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (b. 1988) are exercises in symbolism, leaning on brilliant color, personal style, facial expression, and environmental details...
On View: Monumental Sculptures by Zizipho Poswa at Southern Guild in Los Angeles ‘Channel Socio-Cultural and Spiritual Elements That Underpin African Creation’
Installation view of “Zizipho Poswa: Indyebo yakwaNtu (Black Bounty),” Southern Guild, Los Angeles, Calif., 2024. | Courtesy Southern Guild On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions GRACEFUL AND BOLD, the ceramic and bronze sculptures of South African artist Zizipho Poswa celebrate African womanhood. A testament to her matrilineal heritage, the works invoke contemporary...
New York Museums are Showcasing African American Art, From the Harlem Renaissance to Contemporary Figuration, Sonya Clark, Lyle Ashton Harris & More
FROM MANHATTAN to Brooklyn and Queens, art museums are presenting important exhibitions of African American artists this spring. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism” offers a rare opportunity to see an array of works by prominent 20th century figures, including Aaron Douglas, Laura Wheeler Waring, William H. Johnson, Archibald...
Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s Alluring New Paintings Were ‘Made in Mexico By Hand’
MARY LOVELACE O’NEAL, “Won—By a Nose,” 2021-23 WON–BY A NOSE, 2021-2023 (acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 7 x 10 feet, Diptych 2). | Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery A SYMPHONY OF COLOR AND GESTURE, the abstract paintings of Mary Lovelace O’Neal (b. 1942) are personal and political, serious and joyful. The...
Coming Soon: SFMOMA Will Present Largest-Ever Exhibition of Amy Sherald, Artist Known for Poetic Portraits
AMY SHERALD, “For love, and for country,” 2022 (oil on linen, 313 x 236.5 x 6.4 cm / 123 1/4 x 93 1/8 x 2 1/2 inches). | San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Amy Sherald; photo: Joseph Hyde, courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth THE FIRST MID-CAREER SURVEY of Amy Sherald...
Benjamin Wigfall and Communications Village: Career-Spanning Exhibition Explores Artist’s Biography, Practice, and Creative Community He Nurtured
Installation view of “Benjamin Wigfall and Communications Village” (2023-24), Torggler Fine Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Va. | Courtesy the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center, Photography by Echard Wheeler THE FIRST RETROSPECTIVE of artist, curator, and educator Benjamin Wigfall (1930-2017) is a tour de force shedding light on an important artist...
Hidden Gems: U.S. Museums are Showcasing 5 Significant, Yet Under-Known Artists Whose Practices Warrant Broader Attention
THE LYMAN ALLYN ART MUSEUM is adjacent to Connecticut College in New London, Conn. Barkley L. Hendricks taught at the school for nearly four decades and last year the museum presented a survey of the late artist who is highly regarded for his striking portraits. This year, Lyman Allyn is showing works by Norma Morgan,...
Looking Ahead: Jennie C. Jones is Taking on Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Rooftop Garden Commission in 2025
THE ROOF GARDEN of The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers majestic, panoramic views of the New York City skyline. Each year, the museum selects an artist to create a rooftop installation that highlights their practice, engages with The Met collection, and responds to the picturesque outdoor space. The project provides the encyclopedic museum with a...
2024 Tate Britain Commission Goes to Artist Alvaro Barrington: ‘My Mind Has Been Spinning Since I First Got Invited to Do It’
TATE BRITAIN selected Alvaro Barrington (b.1983) for the next Tate Britain Commission. The annual commission is a site-specific work presented in the grand neo-classical Duveen Galleries of the London museum. Exploring themes of “place and belonging,” Barrington’s installation opens May 26. “We are thrilled that Alvaro Barrington is taking on this year’s Tate Britain Commission....
Cauleen Smith is Shining a Light on the Powerful Poetry of Wanda Coleman and the Contours of Los Angeles that Inspired Her
CAULEEN SMITH, Still from “The Wanda Coleman Songbook,” 2024. The installation is accompanied by limited-edition soundtrack with contributions by Kelsey Lu, Shala Miller, moor mother and Aquiles Navarro, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jeff Parker and Ruby Parker, Alice Smith, and Jamila Woods and Standing on the Corner. | © Cauleen Smith. Courtesy the artist and 52 Walker,...
Painter Sam Gilliam Remained Highly Productive in His Last Five Years, ‘He Was Talking About Freedom, Expression, and Commitment to Abstract Art’
Installation view of “Sam Gilliam: The Last Five Years” at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles. The exhibition features a symphony of drape paintings made by the artist in 2018. | Courtesy David Kordansky Gallery IN LOS ANGELES, a symphony of color-soaked canvases are suspended from the ceiling of the South Gallery at David...
New York: Closing Soon, 5 Gallery Shows Feature Works by Theaster Gates, Nathaniel Oliver, Tuli Mekondjo, Richmond Barthé, Christopher Udemezue, and Gerald Lovell
FIVE GALLERY EXHIBITIONS, on view in New York City, explore similar themes—personal narratives and collective histories—across a wide variety of mediums and styles. Theaster Gates is presenting sculptures and conceptual installations. Nathaniel Oliver and Gerald Lovell make figurative paintings. Tuli Mekondjo’s textiles are mixed-media hanging works. Meanwhile, Richmond Barthé’s modernist sculptures are in conversation with...
Black Art History: 10 U.S. Museums are Exploring African American Art with an Array of Themed Exhibitions
MUSEUMS ACROSS THE NATION are surveying more than 150 years of African African American art. Coinciding with Black History Month, the exhibitions engage a spectrum of themes, presenting an expansive look at Black artistic production. From Sacramento, Calif., to Cincinnati, Ohio, Charlotte, N.C., and New York City, the exhibitions highlight the work of women artists,...
What to Look Forward to in 2024: 30 Exhibitions, Books, and Events Focused on African American Artists
THE YEAR AHEAD is brimming with unprecedented opportunities to explore the work of historic and contemporary artists. Among the most anticipated are landmark surveys of Sargent Claude Johnson, the first Black artist active in California to gain national renown, and Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, the first woman of color to graduate from the Rhode Island School...
Coming Soon: First International Exhibition of Mickalene Thomas Opens at The Broad in Los Angeles Next Spring, Then Travels to Museums in Philadelphia and London
MICKALENE THOMAS (b. 1971), “Din avec la main dans le miroir et jupe rouge,” 2023 (rhinestones, acrylic and glitter on canvas mounted on wood panel, 90 x 110 inches /228.6 x 279.4 cm). | © Mickalene Thomas A MAJOR TRAVELING EXHIBITION of Mickalene Thomas is launching next spring. “Mickalene Thomas: All About Love” opens...
Forthcoming: First Career Retrospective of Stanley Whitney Opens at Buffalo AKG Art Museum in February, Exhibition Charts Five Decades of Abstraction
Stanley Whitney in his studio, Ridgewood, Queens, 2017. | Photo by Katherine McMahon THE FIRST RETROSPECTIVE of Stanley Whitney opens at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum on Feb. 9, 2024. “Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon” will chart the artist’s five-decade career, enduring investigation of color, and evolving approach to abstraction. Following the presentation...
November Exhibitions: 12 Museums Shows Feature African American Artists Betye Saar, Simone Leigh, Dawoud Bey, Charles White, Faith Ringgold, Kehinde Wiley & More
OPENING THIS MONTH, art museums across the United States are presenting the vision and works of a broad array of Black artists—historic figures, mid-career practitioners, and rising talents. Among them are important women artists including Simone Leigh, Betye Saar, Faith Ringgold, Billie Zangewa, Grace Wales Bonner, and Elizabeth Talford Scott (1916-2011). Traveling exhibitions featuring Leigh,...
Forthcoming: Pérez Art Museum Miami is Presenting First Solo Museum Exhibition of Calida Rawles, Her Poetic Water Portraits Blend Hyperrealism and Abstraction
WATER AND ITS MANY THEMES, characteristics, and metaphors is central to the practice of Calida Rawles and serves as an anchoring through line in her paintings. A hybrid mix of hyperrealism and abstraction, her poetic images capture men, women, and young people submerged and floating in waves of stunning blue pool water. Drawing on the...
Norman Lewis Made Hundreds of Works on Paper, Original Paintings and Drawings That Chart Developments in His Visual Language
NORMAN LEWIS (1909–1979), “Untitled (Seachange),” 1975 (oil on paper, 22 x 30 inches / 55.9 x 76.2 cm, signed). | © Estate of Norman Lewis. Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, N.Y. Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is presenting an exhibition of works on paper by Norman Lewis, accompanied by a digital publication with...
Concurrent: Solo Exhibitions of Whitfield Lovell and Chakaia Booker are on View at Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock
WHITFIELD LOVELL (New York, N.Y., b. 1959), “Flight” From the installation Deep River, 2013 (wood cabinet, thirty-three suitcases, music stand, chest, sheet music, chains, and rope, 74 x 89 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches). | Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York. Image Courtesy Jason Masters Concurrent focuses on museums where...
