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...
Women’s Suffrage: Grace Lynne Haynes Painted Sojourner Truth Using Vibrant Colors and Vividly Patterned Textiles to ‘Make the Portrait Contemporary’
ONE OF THE FIRST AMERICANS to employ photography as a promotional tool, Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) copyrighted her image and used it to help fund her “sojourns” as a traveling preacher. She sold cartes de visite bearing her image as souvenirs to those who came to hear her speak about the abolition of slavery and women’s...
The New Yorker: Kadir Nelson’s ‘Distant Summer’ Cover Invokes Pandemic Protocol, Frivolity of Youth, and American Symbolism
“Distant Summer” by Kadir Nelson. | The New Yorker, July 6 and July 3, 2020 SHORTLY AFTER DELIVERING a sobering cover documenting the history of racial injustice, violence, and killing endured by Africa Americans throughout U.S. history, culminating with the murder of George Floyd, Kadir Nelson produced an homage to childhood summer joy. The...
Charly Palmer is Latest Artist Tapped to Illustrate Cover of Time Magazine, Providing Image for ‘America Must Change’ Issue
MAINSTREAM INSTITUTIONS have responded in a variety of ways to the nationwide focus on race, racial justice, and policing. Time magazine’s reaction has been to pair its news coverage of the unfolding events with covers by African American artists. Charly Palmer is the latest tapped for the assignment. In the wake of protests following...
Kadir Nelson’s New Yorker Cover is a Monument to George Floyd and Reminder of Long History of Violence Against Black People in America
THE BANNER FLAG HANGING outside a window at the NAACP’s Fifth Avenue headquarters in New York City declaring “A Man Was Lynched Yesterday.” Emmett Till’s big bright eyes and round smiling face before he was lynched and found dead in a river in Money, Miss., at age 14. The textured scars on the back...
Painter Titus Kaphar Focuses on a Black Mother’s Loss for Time Magazine Cover About Police Killings and American Uprising
REPRESENTING THE SORROW of generations, Titus Kaphar painted a Black mother for the cover of Time magazine. Her eyes are closed in anguish. She holds her young son, but he is not there. The artist has cut the child from the canvas. All that remains is an empty silhouette. “In her expression, I see...
The New York Times Asked African American Creatives About the Black Art That Inspires Them. Here is What They Said
Trailer: “Get Out” (2017), Written and Directed by Jordan Peele. | Video by Universal Pictures ‘GET OUT’ was “a phenomenal piece of work,” artist Kerry James Marshall said. Kenya Barris, the television writer and producer, is drawn to the neon work “Double America 2” (2014) by Glenn Ligon. “The simplicity of it is radical...
