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An essential resource focused on visual art from a Black perspective, Culture Type explores the intersection of art, history, and culture

Exhibitions
Forthcoming: Pérez Art Museum Miami is Presenting First Solo Museum Exhibition of Calida Rawles, Her Poetic Water Portraits Blend Hyperrealism and Abstraction

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 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

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...
On View: Ceramic Sculptures by Magdalene Odundo at Gardiner Museum in Toronto: 'My Ultimate Goal is to Make a Form So Simple it Defies Explanation'

On View: Ceramic Sculptures by Magdalene Odundo at Gardiner Museum in Toronto: ‘My Ultimate Goal is to Make a Form So Simple it Defies Explanation’

Installation view “Magdalene Odundo: A Dialogue with Objects,” Gardiner Museum, Toronto, 2023. | Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid, Courtesy Gardiner Museum   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   THE GARDINER MUSEUM in Toronto acquired a carbonized terracotta vessel by Magdalene Odundo in 2006. A prime example of the renowned artist’s ceramic practice, the elegant,...
On View: Deborah Roberts is Presenting Mixed-Media Collages that Consider Black Boyhood at SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico

On View: Deborah Roberts is Presenting Mixed-Media Collages that Consider Black Boyhood at SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico

Installation view of “Deborah Roberts: Come walk in my shoes,” SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, N.M., 2023. | Photo by Byron Flesher, Courtesy SITE Santa Fe   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   THE FIGURATIVE WORKS of Deborah Roberts focus on Black youth. Roberts assembles the collage works with found images—an eclectic mix...
On View: At Walker Art Center, Kahlil Robert Irving's Site-Specific Installation Reinterprets the Notion of Street Art

On View: At Walker Art Center, Kahlil Robert Irving’s Site-Specific Installation Reinterprets the Notion of Street Art

Installation view of “Kahlil Robert Irving: Archaeology of the Present,” Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn., 2023. | Photo by Kameron Herndon for Walker Art Center   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   THE SCULPTURAL CERAMICS of Kahlil Robert Irving are not typical clay artworks. He makes replicas of everyday objects and assemblages incorporating...
On View: See Images From El Anatsui's Monumental Hyundai Commission 'Behind the Red Moon' at Tate Modern in London

On View: See Images From El Anatsui’s Monumental Hyundai Commission ‘Behind the Red Moon’ at Tate Modern in London

Installation view of Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui: Behind the Red Moon, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London, UK. | Photo by Joe Humphrys, © Tate   On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   A NEW SITE-SPECIFIC COMMISSION by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui officially opened today at Tate Modern in London. “El Anatsui: Behind the Red...
Akinsanya Kambon's Striking Sculptures Reflect Harsh Histories and Brutal Truths: 'If We Don't Talk About it, We'll Never Heal'

Akinsanya Kambon’s Striking Sculptures Reflect Harsh Histories and Brutal Truths: ‘If We Don’t Talk About it, We’ll Never Heal’

Made in L.A. 2923 artist Akinsanya Kambon on how his life experiences have motivated his practice. | Video by Hammer Museum   Akinsanya Kambon is among the artists participating in the Hammer Museum biennial, Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living   THE SINGULAR PRACTICE of Akinsanya Kambon documents suppressed histories and reflects the beauty...
A Feat of Engineering and Craftsmanship, Martin Puryear's First Brick Sculpture Was a Decade in the Making: 'It's Been an Adventure and a Challenge'

A Feat of Engineering and Craftsmanship, Martin Puryear’s First Brick Sculpture Was a Decade in the Making: ‘It’s Been an Adventure and a Challenge’

MARTIN PURYEAR, Installation view of “Lookout,” 2023. Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, N.Y. | © Martin Puryear, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Photo by Jeffrey Jenkins   A CURIOUS LOOKING, CURVED FORM sits on a high overlook in the North Woods of Storm King Art Center. A miracle of construction with no underlying framework, the brick...
What to See in New York: 5 Gallery Exhibitions Showcasing Works by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Awol Erizku, Sam Gilliam, Chase Hall, and Christopher Myers

What to See in New York: 5 Gallery Exhibitions Showcasing Works by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Awol Erizku, Sam Gilliam, Chase Hall, and Christopher Myers

  SOLO EXHIBITIONS dedicated to Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Awol Erizku, Sam Gilliam, Chase Hall, and Christopher Myers are among the must-see gallery shows currently on view in New York. Spanning three generations, the artists represent an array of practices and mediums, from painting, sculpture, and neon to stained-glass and quilting. Akunyili Crosby, who has exhibited...
What to See in New York: 5 New Gallery Exhibitions Feature Works by Ed Clark, Emanoel Araújo, Mickalene Thomas, Sanford Biggers, and Kandy G Lopez

What to See in New York: 5 New Gallery Exhibitions Feature Works by Ed Clark, Emanoel Araújo, Mickalene Thomas, Sanford Biggers, and Kandy G Lopez

  COMMERCIAL ART GALLERIES in New York are dedicating their September exhibitions to a variety of Black artists. Singular, mid-career figures Mickalene Thomas and Sanford Biggers are presenting new works. A survey of the late artist Ed Clark’s dynamic career is spread across two floors. The selections also include inaugural exhibitions of Brazilian artist Emanoel...
Sixty Years Ago, the March on Washington Inspired Change and Drew Many Artists, Including a Future Photographer Named Frank Stewart

Sixty Years Ago, the March on Washington Inspired Change and Drew Many Artists, Including a Future Photographer Named Frank Stewart

  SIXTY YEARS AGO, Bayard Rustin stood on the grounds of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., hoping after a short two months of intense organizing that crowds of demonstrators would come to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “I was terrified people wouldn’t show,” Rustin told the Washington Post years later....
British Fashion Designer Grace Wales Bonner is Curating 'Artist's Choice' Exhibition at Museum of Modern Art This Fall

British Fashion Designer Grace Wales Bonner is Curating ‘Artist’s Choice’ Exhibition at Museum of Modern Art This Fall

HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON, “Washington, D.C.,” 1957 (gelatin silver print, 6 3/4 × 10 inches / 17.1 × 25.4 cm). | Gift of John C. Waddell. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2023 Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos, courtesy Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris   The practice of Wales Bonner is informed by Black art, history, and culture....
New Conceptual Works by Kevin Beasley Channel Memories Through Domestic Sounds, Familial Materials, and Consumer Products

New Conceptual Works by Kevin Beasley Channel Memories Through Domestic Sounds, Familial Materials, and Consumer Products

Installation view of “Kevin Beasley: In an Effort to Keep,” Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, N.Y. (May 13-July 28, 2023). | Photo by Jason Wyche   HOW DOES SOUND DOCUMENT our experiences and preserve memories? Kevin Beasley gathered five artists in a Brooklyn apartment outfitted with 36 microphones for two days, recording the collective experience...
What to See in U.S. Museums This Summer: 15 Solo Exhibitions Featuring Black Artists - Simone Leigh, James Barnor, Ming Smith, Whitfield Lovell, Gary Simmons & More

What to See in U.S. Museums This Summer: 15 Solo Exhibitions Featuring Black Artists – Simone Leigh, James Barnor, Ming Smith, Whitfield Lovell, Gary Simmons & More

  SOME OF THE SUMMER’S BEST U.S. museum exhibitions are on view beyond the art capitals of New York and Los Angeles. Landmark solo exhibitions of an inter-generational slate of prominent Black artists can be seen in Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and many cities in between. The first museum survey of photographer Ming Smith is...
Barkley L. Hendricks Was a Powerful Portrait Painter Whose Exceptional Photography Practice is Coming to Light

Barkley L. Hendricks Was a Powerful Portrait Painter Whose Exceptional Photography Practice is Coming to Light

BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS, “Untitled,” circa 1975 (gelatin silver print, 16 x 24 inches, image); 16 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches, framed). | © Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy the Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York   BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS (1945-2017) had an incredible eye. His latest gallery exhibition...
New York: 10 Gallery Exhibitions Feature Works by Artists Fred Eversley, Bob Thompson, Mark Bradford, Lisa Corinne Davis, Kehinde Wiley, Zéh Palito & More

New York: 10 Gallery Exhibitions Feature Works by Artists Fred Eversley, Bob Thompson, Mark Bradford, Lisa Corinne Davis, Kehinde Wiley, Zéh Palito & More

  NEW YORK CITY GALLERIES are currently showcasing works by a spectrum of Black artists, including art stars Mark Bradford and Kehinde Wiley and emerging figures Uman and Zéh Palito. Two surveys of Bob Thompson (1937-1966) and important presentations of sculptor Fred Eversley, 82, and painter Richard Mayhew, 99, are also on view.   BOB...
In Recognition: Ebony G. Patterson's Multifaceted Practice Taps Beauty of Botanical World to Start Conversations About Visibility, Violence, and Survival

In Recognition: Ebony G. Patterson’s Multifaceted Practice Taps Beauty of Botanical World to Start Conversations About Visibility, Violence, and Survival

Artist Ebony G. Patterson. | Photo by Frank Ishaman   ATTENDING ART SCHOOL in Jamaica, Ebony G. Patterson made a “classically inclined” painting that she didn’t love. Her undergraduate professor recognized that she was struggling and asked her why she was pursuing the medium in that style. “Ebony, is this really what you want to...
Daniel Lind-Ramos Gives Voice to Black Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean Communities Through Monumental Assemblage Works

Daniel Lind-Ramos Gives Voice to Black Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean Communities Through Monumental Assemblage Works

DANIEL LIND-RAMOS (b. 1953), Installation view of “Baño de María (Bain-marie/The Cleansing),” 2018–2022, MoMA PS1, Queens, N.Y. | Photo by Steven Paneccasio   THE MONUMENTAL SCULPTURES of Puerto Rican artist Daniel Lind-Ramos are formed with everyday objects of personal and cultural significance. Using a visual language all his own, Lind-Ramos tells stories. He works with...
Ficre Ghebreyesus's Compositions Explore War, Displacement, Notions of Home: 'When I Started Painting… The Pieces That Flowed Out of Me Were Very Painful and Direct'

Ficre Ghebreyesus’s Compositions Explore War, Displacement, Notions of Home: ‘When I Started Painting… The Pieces That Flowed Out of Me Were Very Painful and Direct’

Installation view of “Ficre Ghebreyesus: I Believe We Are Lost,” Galerie Lelong, New York, N.Y. (March 30-May 6, 2023). | © The Estate of Ficre Ghebreyesus, Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co., Photo by Jon Cancro   AFRICA, EUROPE, AMERICA. Ficre Ghebreyesus (1962-2012) lived across the globe. Born in Asmara, Eritrea, he left his home country...