THE NEW MUSEUM is presenting the first-ever U.S. solo museum show of British artist Lubaina Himid next week. The 2017 Turner Prize-winner, who describes herself as a painter and a social activist, is debuting an all-new body of work at the New York City museum. Opening June 26, “Lubain Himid: Work from Underneath” features...
Installation view of “Get Up, Stand Up Now.” Shown, From left, Works by Yinka Shonibare and Sanford Biggers (in background). | Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Somerset House On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions A STUNNING ARRAY of works by more than 100 artists from Britain, the United States, and beyond, is on view at...
THE LIGHT-FILLED ATRIUM at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) was transformed into a dance floor on Sunday. Artist and choreographer Brendan Fernandes staged “Free Fall 49” (2017), a piece he developed in response to the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla. On June 12, 2016, a lone gunman killed 49 people and wounded...
THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM named Chakshu Patel director of institutional advancement today. She is charged with developing a fundraising strategy to support the ambitious mission and vision of the museum, which recently celebrated 50 years by embarking on a new building project. Patel will begin her new position June 17. “I am excited to...
A STRIKING PORTRAIT of a black woman was awarded first prize at the National Portrait Gallery in London. “Imara in Her Winter Coat” by Charlie Schaffer won the BP Portrait Award 2019. The winning portrait and 43 other top entries will be on view in an exhibition that opens June 13 at the National...
UNITED TALENT AGENCY announced today that Arthur Lewis will lead the fine arts arm of the Los Angeles-based talent and entertainment firm. Lewis will serve as creative director of UTA Fine Arts and UTA Artist Space, advising visual artists represented by the agency and overseeing exhibitions, programming and partnerships through its Beverly Hills presentation and...
Artist Leonardo Drew in his Brooklyn studio. WORKING IN HIS UNIQUE STUDIO SPACE in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, artist Leonardo Drew simultaneously produced work for two projects. He fabricated “City in the Grass,” which features a trio of towers rising from an abstracted cityscape grounded by a massive surface resembling a topographically patterned carpet. His...
From left, Artists Sable Elyse Smith, Allison Janae Hamilton, and Tschabalala Self THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM Artists-in-Residence exhibition opened Sunday at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City. Titled “MOOD,” the exhibition features 2018-19 artists Allison Janae Hamilton, Tschabalala Self, and Sable Elyse Smith. Here is how the museum describes the show: MOOD explores...
A PHOTOGRAPH from Kitchen Table Series, the seminal body of work Carrie Mae Weems created in 1990, set a new artist record today. “Untitled (man smoking) from Kitchen Table Series” sold for $70,000 (including fees). The price was about twice the estimate of $25,000-$35,000. The record was set May 7 during “Artist | Icon...
Curator Zoé Whitley THE BRITISH PAVILION at the 58th Venice Biennale features a new body of work by Irish artist Cathy Wilkes. Conceptual and figurative sculptures, a spare selection of household objects, and abstracted landscape paintings are installed in a series of six pristine galleries flooded with natural light. She’s created narrative moments and...
Arthur Jafa accepts 2019 Golden Lion in Venice. AN INTERNATIONAL JURY awarded the top artist prize at the 58th Venice Biennale to Arthur Jafa. The American artist and filmmaker won the Golden Lion recognizing the best participant in “May You Live in Interesting Times,” the international exhibition curated by Ralph Rugoff. Jafa was honored...
Camille Billops (1933-2019), Joe Overstreet (1933-2019) The following review presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related black culture: TWO LEGENDARY New York City artists have died. Painter Joe Overstreet passed away yesterday. He co-founded Kenkeleba House, a Lower East Side artist space in 1974. Meanwhile, Camille Billops, a singular figure...
Chef Leah Chase (1923-2019) THE COLLECTION of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., includes portraits of America’s most iconic figures—legends of culture, politics, and history. When the most prominent among these national treasures dies, the Smithsonian museum recognizes their life and legacy by displaying their portrait in a designated In Memoriam space on...
“Café, Paris” (1929) by Archibald J. Motley Jr., at DIA The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related black culture: Museum Staffers are Sharing Their Salaries on a Google Spreadsheet Employees of museums across the country are publicizing their...
FROM ONE DECADE TO THE NEXT, one can never guess where Frank Bowling will take his painting. Where ever he goes, somehow it always looks like Bowling. Whether he is sewing silkscreen images of his mother’s house to canvases, stenciling silhouettes of Africa and South America against fields of color, or relying on...
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MoMA) in New York is welcoming a new curator. Earlier this month, Lanka Tattersall was named curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints. The appointment marks a return to MoMA. Tattersall served previously as a curatorial assistant in the museum’s Department of Painting and Sculpture for four years (2010-14)....
Smithsonian Secretary-elect Lonnie G. Bunch III THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION’S Board of Regents launched a search for a new leader in December and found the ideal candidate was already in its midst. This morning, the Smithsonian announced the election of Lonnie G. Bunch III, who will serve as the 14th Secretary. Bunch is the founding...
EMPLOYING CARPETS left behind by the previous occupant of his Harlem studio, Nari Ward made an angel. He reinvented the carpets, cutting them down and forming tightly rolled segments, combining them with found plastic bags, plastic bottles, springs, wood screws, and rope, to create an airy, open-weave structure. He named the work “Carpet Angel.”...
INSTALLED ON THE EIGHTH FLOOR of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, a group exhibition celebrates color. “Spilling Over: Painting Color in the 1960s” considers the technical, formal, and substantive possibilities of painting with bold, neon, and saturated hues. Drawing exclusively on the Whitney Museum’s collection, the show brings together 18...
WORKS BY FIVE African American artists opened Christie’s contemporary sale on May 16, with exceptional results for women artists. Amy Sherald made her auction debut with a portrait that sold for three times the estimate. Mickalene Thomas achieved a new artist record and a painting by Jordan Casteel more than doubled expectations. A body...
On View: ‘Paris Noir’ Exhibition at Centre Pompidou ‘Retraces the Presence and Influence of Black Artists in France from 1950s to 2000’
Jun 29, 2025
On View: ‘Michael Armitage: Crucible,’ Paintings by Kenyan British Artist Explore Migration at David Zwirner in New York
Jun 27, 2025
Fresh Out of Graduate School, Christine Sun Kim Helped to Greatly Improve Experiences of Deaf Audiences at the Whitney Museum
Jun 24, 2025
American Sign Language Videos Explore Whitney Museum’s Collection, Including Works by Simone Leigh, Archibald Motley, Diedrick Brackens, Jacob Lawrence & More
Jun 24, 2025
Picturing Freedom: Exhibition and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Book Shed Light on Harriet Tubman’s Greatest Feat, Liberating More than 700 in Combahee River Raid
Jun 19, 2025
