On View: ‘Evita Tezeno: Better Days’ at Luis De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions A REAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY and familiarity threads the portraits of Evita Tezeno. A selection of new works by the artist is currently on view at Luis De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles. Her characters possess overwhelming pride in their surroundings, their loved ones, and...
At 93, Lilian Thomas Burwell is Making Her Solo Debut in New York Where Her Artwork Will Be on View at Berry Campbell Gallery
STILL PUSHING HER PRACTICE to new heights, Lilian Thomas Burwell will have her first New York solo exhibition at age 93. “Lilian Thomas Burwell: Soaring” opens April 22 at Berry Campbell Gallery. An abstract artist, Burwell makes nature-inspired paintings and sculpture. She was featured in “Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today,” a...
Los Angeles: 5 Gallery Shows Feature Works by Artists Fred Eversley, Amy Sherald, Stanley Whitney, Asuka Anastacia Ogawa, and Brenna Youngblood
CURRENTLY ON VIEW IN LOS ANGELES, five galleries are presenting solo exhibitions of highly regarded African American artists working in a variety of mediums and styles, including portraiture, abstraction, and sculpture. The presentations include the first West Coast exhibition of Amy Sherald, Stanley Whitney’s first full-scale exhibition in Los Angeles, and Brenna Youngblood’s first...
Glenstone is Hosting a Major Faith Ringgold Exhibition This Spring, Maryland Museum is Only U.S. Venue For the Expansive Survey
THE HOLDINGS OF GLENSTONE MUSEUM in Potomac, Md., include some of Faith Ringgold‘s most politically potent, flag-inspired works. The paintings speak to America’s violent history of racism and injustice. “The American Collection #6: The Flag is Bleeding #2” (1997) is a self portrait of the artist keeping a close, protective hold on her two...
New York: 5 Gallery Shows Feature Paul Anthony Smith, Keith Duncan, LeRone Wilson, 20th Century Masters, and 12 Black Female Artists
CURRENTLY ON VIEW IN NEW YORK, five gallery exhibitions showcase works by a variety of African American artists. The selection includes a group show at LatchKey Gallery devoted to a dozen Black female artists, Keith Duncan’s homage to marching bands at New Orleans HBCUs (online), and images by Paul Anthony Smith that explore his...
On View: ‘Love Letters for Harlem,’ Photographs by John Pinderhughes, Ruben Natal SanMiguel, Jeffrey Henson Scales and Shawn Walker at Claire Oliver Gallery
“Lady Money Sings The Blues” (2011) by Ruben Natal-San Miguel On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions FOUR HARLEM PHOTOGRAPHERS are the focus of the latest exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery—John Pinderhughes, Ruben Natal SanMiguel, Jeffrey Henson Scales, and Shawn Walker. The artful images featured in “Love Letters for Harlem” pay homage to...
International Recognition: From America to Africa, Europe and Asia, Museum Exhibitions are Celebrating Black Female Artists
CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, in many ways represents the modus operandi of Black female artists. Achieving a certain level of success and recognition requires beating profound odds in a field where women, particularly women of color, are underrepresented and undervalued at nearly every turn—from exhibitions, gallery representation,...
Closing Soon: From New York to Atlanta and Dallas, 5 Museum Exhibitions Featuring African American Artists
FROM NEW YORK TO TEXAS, museums are presenting some of the most socially engaging and historically significant work of our time. Five must-see exhibitions feature critically acclaimed video installations by Arthur Jafa and Garrett Bradley; retrospectives exploring the photography of New York collective Kamoinge Workshop and Chicago-based Dawoud Bey; and works by artists incarcerated...
Hugo McCloud’s New Paintings are Made with Single-Use Plastic Bags: ‘This Material Could Be Used as Art, But Also as a Tool to Open Up Conversation’
THE WORK OF Hugo McCloud has shifted profoundly over the past year. His latest paintings on view at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York, were produced using single-use plastic bags—plentiful, overlooked, non-biodegradable material available in a spectrum of colors. The plastic served as his “paint.” The works are composed of hundreds, or maybe even...
Curator Laura Hoptman Reflects on Meeting Artist David Hammons and Organizing New Show at Drawing Center, the First Museum Exhibition Dedicated to His Body Prints
IN THE LATE 1960s, David Hammons adapted an inventive method for creating monoprints, using grease, pigment, and his own body to make the impressions. He was living and working in Los Angeles at the time. Over the span of a decade, Hammons produced a spectrum of body prints, combining the process with silkscreening and...
What to Look Forward to in 2021: More Than 30 Exhibitions, Books, and Events Focused on African American Art
THE YEAR AHEAD is rife with an expansive and diverse selection of exhibitions, books and other opportunities to engage with the work of African American artists. From Austin, Texas, to Brooklyn and Boston, a notable line up of solo museum exhibitions opening in 2021 is focused on Black female artists, including Emma Amos, Sonya...
An American in Paris: Herbert Gentry Said His Paintings Possess a ‘Certain Spontaneity’ and Reflect ‘People I’ve Met Throughout the World’
MANY BLACK AMERICAN ARTISTS, seeking a more racially receptive experience, thrived in Europe during the post-war years. A New Yorker, Herbert Gentry (1919-2003) was at the center of the milieu. In 1949, he established Chez Honey, a gallery-club in the Montparnasse area of Paris, a popular gathering place that engendered many of his friendships...
Coming Soon: ‘Icons of Nature and History,’ a Major Survey of David Driskell Opens at High Museum in Atlanta in February 2021
A MAJOR TRAVELING SURVEY of David Driskell (1931-2020) opens at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta in February 2021. “David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History” will present an overview of Driskell’s illustrious career and celebrate highlights of his oeuvre, across painting, printmaking and collage. About 60 paintings and works on paper will...
Titus Kaphar Explored Renaissance Christian Imagery and Presented a Black Jesus Painting in a Deconsecrated Church in Brussels
Gesù Church in Brussels A DECONSECRATED CHURCH in Brussels, Belgium, served as the venue for a recent exhibition of religious paintings by Titus Kaphar. “The Evidence of Things Unseen” was presented by Maruani Mercier gallery at Gesù Church. Kaphar’s practice is a sustained interrogation of Western art. He challenges historic narratives and questions what...
Nina Chanel Abney Embraces the Great Outdoors in ‘Idyllic Scenes of Blackness’
“Nina Chanel Abney: The Great Escape” at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. A CAMPFIRE, BIKES, AND FRESHLY CAUGHT FISH have replaced the tumult and complexity of contemporary urban life that have animated Nina Chanel Abney‘s paintings in recent years. Her latest exhibition features rural scenes: farming, hunting, and kayaking. The graphic, boldly hued paintings...
Sam Gilliam on His New Work at Pace Gallery: ‘I Am Trying to Express Something That is Contemporary’
THE SIX-DECADE CAREER of Sam Gilliam has been defined by a commitment to color and a penchant for invention, innovation, and charting his own path. In the mid-1960s, Gilliam developed two new formats for presenting his work. He began wrapping his canvases on top of frames, creating his signature Beveled-Edge paintings. Then he removed...
Envisioned by the Late Artist Himself, New Ernie Barnes Exhibition Brings His Figurative Paintings to Life
Installation view of “Ernie Barnes: Liberating Humanity From Within.” | Photo by Jeff McLane, Courtesy UTA Artist Space THEIR INITIAL SIT DOWN was highly productive, a real meeting of minds. Luz Rodriguez manages the estate of artist Ernie Barnes (1938-2009). Arthur Lewis is creative director of UTA Fine Arts & UTA Artist Space. Just...
Black Motherhood and American Mourning: After Challenging Historic Narratives, Titus Kaphar Confronts Contemporary Realities
FOR HIS FIRST EXHIBITION since joining Gagosian in April, Titus Kaphar is showing a series of new paintings. “Titus Kaphar: From a Tropical Space” is on view in New York. Kaphar has developed a practice around challenging art historical images from the 18th and 19th centuries and the American history narratives they normalize. He...
National Museum of Women in the Arts is Presenting First Survey of Textile and Social Practice Artist Sonya Clark in March 2021
“Afro Abe II” (2010) by Sonya Clark THE SINGULAR PRACTICE of Sonya Clark will be showcased for the first time with a full-scale survey at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. A textile and social practice artist, Clark explores issues of race, identity, visibility, and Blackness, expressing herself...
Phillips is Hosting a Selling Exhibition With Dindga McCannon Whose Mixed-Media Works Center Black Women
“Women in Jazz Saturday” (2020) by Dindga McCannon EMPLOYING TRADITIONAL QUILTING TECHNIQUES in combination with paint, printed images, and beaded embellishments, mixed-media works by Dindga McCannon reference the March on Washington and Monet’s Garden and pay tribute to Maya Angelou, Faith Ringgold, Nelson Mandela, Mariam Makeba, women in jazz, and Lavinia Williams, a lead...
