Henry Taylor’s Self Portrait of His 65th Birthday, Complete with Cake, Covers Winter Issue of Art in America
A NEW PAINTING by Henry Taylor covers the Winter 2023 edition of Art in America. The image is a self-portrait of the artist that he started on his 65th birthday in June. When Taylor talks about his work, he is usually candid, reflective, introspective, and vulnerable. Taylor sounds particularly vulnerable when speaking about the birthday...
Cover Portrait: Envisioning Fall for The New Yorker, Kadir Nelson Illustrates Couple on a Rainy Day in Dumbo, Brooklyn
AS THE DAYS OF NOVEMBER roll by, the rainfall that often accompanies the fall months is at the center of Kadir Nelson‘s latest cover for The New Yorker. The artist’s double portrait depicts a couple clad in rain gear standing in the middle of a street in Dumbo, the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood whose name is...
Rake and Furrow: Artforum Gives Sam Gilliam Cover Treatment and Considers His Unique Approach to Abstract Painting
A FIELD OF FROSTY WHITE flecked with hues of blue, violet, green, and rose, “Foggy” (2021) by Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) graces the cover of the November 2023 edition of Artforum. Inside, an essay by Julia Bryan-Wilson explores the unique characteristics that distinguish Gilliam’s abstract paintings and connects his techniques to Black women’s labor. Gilliam is...
New York Magazine: List of City’s Under-the-Radar Power Brokers Includes Collector AC Hudgins and Curator Rujeko Hockley
THE LATEST POWER ISSUE published by New York features “The Most Powerful New Yorkers You’ve Never Heard Of. 49 people who are actually running the city.” The list includes iconic collector and longstanding Museum of Modern Art board member AC Hudgins and Rujeko Hockley, an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. For...
Henry the Great: New York Times Pays Homage to Painter Known for Powerful Approach to Figurative Representation
Henry Taylor is among The Greats, one of the rare artistic figures who is shaping his field and the broader culture IT’S BEEN A GREAT YEAR for Los Angeles painter Henry Taylor. “Henry Taylor: B Side” originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, where it was on view through April. Then “B-Side,”...
Diana Ejaita’s Fashion Illustration ‘Lines of Beauty’ Draws From African and Western Art Traditions
A RECENT FASHION ILLUSTRATION by Diana Ejaita could easily serve as a graphic designed to promote the “Africa Fashion” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. The portrait was not commissioned by the museum, however, but rather a magazine. “Lines of Beauty” graced the cover of the Sept. 25 issue of The New Yorker. The special Fall...
Smithsonian’s African American Museum Acquired Ebony Magazine Test Kitchen, Adding Important Element of Black Culinary History to Collection
Installation view of the Ebony Test Kitchen, “African/American Making the Nation’s Table” exhibition, The Museum of Food and Drink in New York, N.Y., 2022. | © Museum of Food and Drink THE SMITHSONIAN’S VAST COLLECTION of art and cultural objects includes two famous kitchens. In 2001, the National Museum of American History acquired Julia...
Family Man: South African Artist Pola Maneli Remembers Civil Rights Icon Martin Luther King Jr., as Father Figure
FOR HIS FIRST COVER of The New Yorker, South African artist Pola Maneli made a portrait of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He remembers the civil rights leader as a family man, depicting him seated and surrounded by his four young children—Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice. Maneli delivers a lovely portrait of the...
Artist Henry Taylor Covers Frieze Magazine: ‘I Became the Observer Because I Was Trying to Understand My Own Life, That’s Why I Started Making Pictures as a Kid’
THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY issue of Frieze features a cover profile of Henry Taylor authored by Terence Trouillot, a senior editor of the contemporary art magazine. The writer first met Taylor, hung out with the artist, and was introduced to his work a decade ago when “Henry Taylor” (2012), his first institutional exhibition in New York,...
Apollo Awards 2022: Faith Ringgold Named ‘Artist of the Year’ by International Art Magazine
CELEBRATIONS AND HARD-WON RECOGNITION of Faith Ringgold and her singular practice continue apace. Over the past several years, Ringgold has been celebrated by major international institutions through awards, media profiles, publications, and exhibitions. The latest honor hails from London. Apollo, the international art magazine, announced its annual awards and Ringgold was named Artist of...
New Yorker Collaborates with Faith Ringgold, Artist’s Jazz-Inspired Story Quilt Covers New Style & Design Issue
CELEBRATIONS OF ONE OF AMERICA’s most insightful artists are finally arriving at a pace that measures up to the significance and longevity of her practice. Harlem-born Faith Ringgold, 91, is being recognized all over her hometown. Currently on view at the New Museum, “Faith Ringgold: American People” is her first full-scale retrospective in New...
Derek Fordjour’s ‘Strawman’ Painting Covers Spring Issue of Juxtapoz Magazine
THE LATEST ISSUE of Juxtapoz magazine features a painting by Derek Fordjour on the cover. His subject is a nattily dressed marionette. The figure and the surrounding scene call to mind an earlier era of performance spanning vaudeville, the circus, magic, and puppetry. The culture of performance and sport are central elements in Fordjour’s...
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.: Illustrator Ronald Wimberly’s First New Yorker Cover is Inspired by Storied Civil Rights Photograph
THE TRANSFORMATIONAL civil rights, human rights, and democracy work of Martin Luther King Jr., was largely understood and represented by public events—soaring and poignant speeches, strategic marches and protests, and multiple arrests. On Sept. 3, 1958, King was arrested outside the courthouse in Montgomery, Ala. Illustrated by Ronald Wimberly, the moment is captured on...
Visions of Equity: Jordan Casteel’s Mother and Child Portrait Covers Special Issue of Time Magazine
TO ILLUSTRATE THE COVER of its special issue titled Visions of Equity, Time magazine chose a painting by Jordan Casteel. “God Bless the Child” (2019), captures a tender moment, a young mother cradling the head of her child, presumably a little girl. Both of their faces are obscured. Nonetheless, Casteel takes great care in...
Nina Chanel Abney’s First New Yorker Cover Raises a Glass to Post-Covid Return of New York Social Culture
FOR HER FIRST COVER of The New Yorker, Nina Chanel Abney made an image that celebrates a return to socializing. The portrait references Eustace Tilley, the magazine’s famous dandy mascot. Abney’s version is a Black female dandy who appears on the May 31 issue of the magazine. Enjoying a cocktail outdoors among a few...
Bisa Butler Quilt Illustrates May/June Cover of Essence Magazine Dedicated to ‘Year That Changed the World’
A ONE-OF-A-KIND QUILT by Bisa Butler graces the cover of the forthcoming Essence magazine. The specially commissioned quilt illustrates the magazine’s May/June 2021 edition. Dedicated to “The Year that Changed the World,” the issue looks back at the past year, which brought political unrest, police brutality, economic inequality, and a global pandemic. Butler is...
Iconic Lorna Simpson Portrait of Rihanna Covers January/February Essence Magazine
FOR YEARS, Lorna Simpson has been recognized for her powerful and transporting collage portraits of Black women. Her subjects are usually anonymous. Her latest is one of the most recognizable women in the world—music, beauty, and fashion icon Rihanna. Essence magazine commissioned Brooklyn-based Simpson to make a series of portraits of Rihanna for its...
Theaster Gates Reflects on His Johnson Publishing Project: ‘To Me the Photographic Images Were Waiting on Their Next Life’
A DENSE GATHERING of mostly African Americans, well-dressed for a day of national mourning, covers the fall 2020 edition of Gagosian Quarterly. The black-and-white photograph is by Moneta Sleet Jr. (1926-1996), a bird’s eye view captured at the public funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., in April 1968. The photograph is part of the...
Paintings by Jordan Casteel and Kerry James Marshall Cover September Issue of Vogue
THE FALL FASHION ISSUE of American Vogue features not one but two paintings by Black artists. Kerry James Marshall and Jordan Casteel were commissioned to produce cover images for the September 2020 edition. The artists were given considerable creative freedom and came up with two very different fashion-inspired portraits that reflect their individual practices....
Amy Sherald Painted a Portrait of Breonna Taylor for Vanity Fair: ‘I Wanted it to Feel Ethereal But Grounded at the Same Time’
A BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT of Breonna Taylor looking regal and “ethereal” in a flowing blue-green gown graces the cover of the September 2020 issue of Vanity Fair. The portrait is a painting by Amy Sherald, a posthumous tribute commissioned by the magazine for The Great Fire, a special project guest edited by journalist and author...
