“Bonsai” (2016) by Sanford Biggers On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions WORKING WITH ANTIQUE, pre-1900 quilts, Sanford Biggers makes mixed-media works that present as painted textiles and sculptural installations. The quilt-based works are inspired by the modern and contemporary artistry of the Black women who have been making quilts in Gee’s Bend,...
THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART (CMA) is elevating Key Jo Lee to associate curator of American art. The news was announced Jan. 18. Lee joined CMA in 2017 as assistant director of academic affairs. In 2021, she was appointed director of academic affairs and associate curator of special projects. Her latest promotion is effective July...
“Jiskaske Enfinite Vini Nan Yon Fen (Until Infinity Comes To An End)” (2021) by Widline Cade On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions A GROUP EXHIBITION at MoMA PS1, “(Never) As I Was” presents new works by the Studio Museum in Harlem’s 2020-21 artists-in-residence: Widline Cadet, Texas Isaiah, Genesis Jerez, and Jacolby Satterwhite....
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...
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Lou Stovall in the printmaking studio he established adjacent to his Cleveland Park home (1974). | Courtesy Lou Stovall Workshop Awards & Honors Artist and master printer Lou Stovall is receiving the Larry D....
“Beach Life” (2021) by Peter Uka FOR HIS FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION in the United States, Peter Uka is presenting seven new figurative paintings. On view at Mariane Ibrahim in Chicago, “Peter Uka: Longing” channels 1970s nostalgia and memories of growing up in Nigeria. Uka portrays men wearing bell bottoms at the beach, the barbershop,...
BLACK ARTISTS representing multiple generations and disciplines died in 2021, including Virgil Abloh, Winfred Rembert, Donald P. Ryder, Chi Modu, and Peter Williams. Figures such as Judson Powell of Los Angeles, Eugene Wade of Chicago, Charles McGee of Detroit, and Denzil Hurley of Seattle, Wash., who were well-known locally and deserve wider attention, also...
AS IT PREPARES TO WELCOME the public to a new building later this year, the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) announced two new appointments today. Courtenay Finn is joining the Southern California museum as chief curator in March. She is currently chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. Meagan Burger is serving...
THE NEWARK MUSEUM OF ART is starting off the new year by welcoming a new member to its curatorial team. Henone K. Girma has been named associate curator of the Arts of Global Africa. Girma joins the Newark Museum of Art in New Jersey from The Africa Center in Harlem, where she served as programs...
FIVE YEARS AGO, Culture Type began reporting on new appointments of Black curators, primarily in museums. The first review in 2016 was prompted by findings published by the Mellon Foundation (2015) that showed American museums employed very few Black people in positions that shape them in terms of their management and intellectual direction as...
WEDDINGS, FUNERALS, PARADES, CHRISTMAS SCENES, and all manner of portraits. The photographs of James Van Der Zee (1886-1983) have come to define 20th century Harlem. His powerful pictures capture the beauty and pride of Black life, documenting everyday moments and special celebrations. His subjects were cosmopolitan Black families, artists, and political leaders—Adam Clayton Powell...
TWENTY YEARS AGO, Michael Ray Charles was a rare quantity—a Black contemporary artist with mainstream recognition. His potent and thought-provoking work explored African American representation in popular culture, employed blackface and caricature to confront racial stereotypes, and presented complex images aimed directly at America’s shameful history of slavery, subjugation, racial violence, and white supremacy....
Incoming RISD President Crystal Williams. | Photo by Jo Sittenfeld THE NEXT PRESIDENT of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is Crystal Williams. The school’s board of trustees announced the news this morning. A professor, poet, and diversity advocate, Williams brings more than two decades of higher education experience to RISD. She currently...
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Dec. 8, 2021: At PAFA, incoming president Eric Pryor is flanked by paintings by John Neagle (“Pat Lyon at the Forge,” 1829) and Kehinde Wiley (Three Wise Men Greeting Entry into Lagos,” 2008). | Courtesy...
CULTURAL CRITIC AND MUSICIAN Greg Tate (1957-2021) died Dec. 7 in New York. He was 64. Widely renowned and beloved, Tate wrote with a singular style and insight about music, art, and culture at-large. In the 1970s, he worked at Just Above Midtown Gallery in New York, the storied gathering place and exhibition space...
“Because I Wanna Fly” (2021) by Whitfield Lovell On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions EMOTIONAL AND EVOCATIVE, Whitfield Lovell‘s work draws on memory and metaphor. His source images are found photographs of anonymous African Americans dating from emancipation to the civil rights era. He explores the Black experience by connecting past lives...
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Aritist and Designer Virgil Abloh (1980-2021). | Photo by Katrina Wittkamp, Courtesy MCA Chicago Lives Virgil Abloh, the trailblazing designer and inveterate collaborator who made historic strides in the fashion world and provided opportunities...
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions COWBOYS AND TWINS take center stage at the Rubell Museum in Miami, where Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe is presenting his 2021 Artist-in-Residence exhibition. Quaicoe stands out among a proliferation of young artists emerging over the past several years whose central focus is Black portraiture. Quaicoe generally...
THE POETIC LANDSCAPES of Joseph Yoakum (1891-1972) are transporting. Yoakum said he drew what he saw as he made his way in the world. He depicted meandering streams, mountainous vistas, and forested terrains, creating texture and dimension within the topographical scenes using dense hash marks made with ballpoint and felt-tip pens. He further added...
THE EVER-PRESENT FLORAL PATTERNS in the background of Kehinde Wiley’s famous portraits inspired a set of notecards. A deck of playing cards features artwork by Gee’s Bend, Ala., quilt artists. Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Escape Collage is emblazoned on a hoodie. From apparel and accessories to stationery and home goods, African American artists have inspired...
On View: ‘Lorna Simpson: Source Notes’ at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York Focuses on Shift to Large-Scale Painting
Nov 24, 2025
Fascinating Portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks, Pairing His Subject with Coca-Cola Cooler and Party Balloons, Went Unsold at Sotheby’s
Nov 23, 2025
Auction Results: New ‘Record’ for Firelei Báez at Phillips, Important Study by Alma Thomas, Paintings by Ernie Barnes, Reggie Burrows Hodges, and More
Nov 22, 2025
Sold at Phillips Auction: Untitled Study by Alma Thomas Featured on Cover of Major Exhibition Catalog
Nov 21, 2025
Auction Results: New Records for Noah Davis and Antonio Obá at Sotheby’s, Major Paintings by Barkley L. Hendricks and Kerry James Marshall Went Unsold
Nov 20, 2025
