“The Wedding Reception” (2015) by Keith Duncan EVOKING THE CULTURE of black New Orleans, the work of Keith Duncan is full of bold color and energetic movement. His images are often densely packed with people coming together for ritual gatherings or presents a confluence of symbolic images around a unifying theme. “The Big Easy,”...
From left, Artists Brendan Fernandes, Simone Leigh, and Todd Gray THE ARTIST LIST for the 2019 Whitney Biennial was released Monday afternoon. The group includes 75 artists, a diverse group in terms of race, gender, experience, and discipline. Prominent names include Simone Leigh, Wangechi Mutu, Nicole Eisenman, Jeffrey Gibson, and Forensic Architecture, the UK...
THREE YEARS INTO HER TENURE as deputy director and chief curator at the California African American Museum, Naima J. Keith is heading to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Keith has been named vice president of education and public programs at LACMA. She begins her new post April 1. “It’s a great time...
FRIEZE LANDED IN LOS ANGELES last week and it was a notable moment in the city. Established in 2003 in London, and expanded to New York in 2012, the contemporary art fair recognized a nexus of activity that has existed in Los Angeles for generations and gained institutional and market momentum over the past...
Installation view of “Game” (2019) by Karon Davis | Photo by Mark Blower. Courtesy of Mark Blower/Frieze OVER THE WEEKEND, the inaugural edition of Frieze Los Angeles was held at Paramount Pictures Studios on the backlot where the streets and structures have the look and feel of New York City. The brick and stone...
“Jacob de Graeff” (2018) by Kehinde Wiley THE LATEST ADDITION to the collection of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is “Jacob de Graeff,” a large-scale portrait by Kehinde Wiley. Brincel Kape’li Wiggins Jr., is the subject of “Jacob de Graeff.” He wears a cap with “Ferguson,” the neighborhood where Michael Brown was killed...
“Souvenir II” (1997) by Kerry James Marshall The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related black culture: Seattle Gallerist Mariane Ibrahim is Headed to Chicago After operating her eponymous gallery in Seattle for seven years, Mariane Ibrahim has decided...
NEW YORK, N.Y.—EIGHT-FEET-TALL DRAWINGS by Charles White (1918-1979) are on view in the light-filled, second-floor galleries of David Zwirner in New York. The selling exhibition is a rarity. The four drawings are studies for the figures in a Mary McLeod Bethune mural White completed in 1978 for a Los Angeles public library. The drawings...
“Yellow Turtleneck” (2018) by Amoako Boafo AFTER MOVING TO VIENNA, Amoako Boafo began a new portrait series. The work grew less out of inspiration and more out of motivation. Ghanaian-born Boafo found the Austrian capital generally unreceptive to black people and the art scene was just as challenging. The portrait series served as...
“Strategy” (1994) by Jacob Lawrence IN THE HANDS OF Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), images of revolution and rebellion are both “serious,” as the artist described them, and radically imagined. His narrative series depicting the life and leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture includes a portrait of the Haitian liberator in profile in formal military dress, an intense...
From left, Howardena Pindell is receiving the 2019 Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement and Joyce J. Scott is delivering the CAA conference keynote address. THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE of the College Art Association (CAA) is happening this week in New York City. Students and art historians are gathering at the New York Hilton Midtown...
One of New York City’s “unusual characters.” | Photo by Clay Benskin for Time. Used with permission from the photographer TIME TAPPED Ava DuVernay to guest edit a special issue devoted to optimism and she delivered a magazine chock full of hope, promise and creativity. The award-winning writer/director/producer elected to explore optimism through the...
BLACK HISTORY MONTH coincides with a number museum and gallery exhibitions marking new milestones for African American artists. On-the-rise talents such as Jordan Casteel, Eric N. Mack, and Amy Sherald are presenting their first major solo museum exhibitions this month. Nari Ward and Kevin Beasley are having their first New York museum shows. Mid-career...
Thelma Golden is organizing a solo show of painter Michael Armitage at MoMA in fall 2019. ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS of the Studio Museum in Harlem’s exhibition programming is the annual group show presenting new work by budding artists in its Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program. Each cohort mounts a show at the conclusion of its...
THE LATEST RECIPIENT of the David C. Driskell Prize is scholar Huey Copeland. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta announced today the Northwestern University art historian is the winner of the 2019 prize, which includes a $25,000 cash award. Copeland will be honored on April 26 at a celebratory dinner at the museum. Copeland’s...
“Blood (Donald Formey),” 1975 by Barkley L. Hendricks “I’m most concerned about Barkley’s legacy now that he’s gone. I want more and more people to understand what all the hoopla’s about. He was a master painter and this is one of his greatest works.” — Collector Kenneth Montague IF YOU VISIT the Brooklyn...
Los Angeles County Museum of Art HISTORICALLY, THE U.S. MUSEUM FIELD has lacked diversity, with African Americans significantly underrepresented. A 2015 Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation found 84 percent of art museum curators, educators, conservators, and leadership was white. People of color (blacks/African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and those...
A 2014 triptych by Kara Walker dominates the living area of Ari Emanuel’s home. A painting by Mark Bradford is on display to the left. THE ART-FILLED HOME of talent power broker Ari Emanuel is for sale. Emanuel is co-CEO of Endeavor, the talent and entertainment agency, The contemporary-style home in the Mandeville Canyon...
Director Rashid Johnson at Sundance The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture: Prioritizing Museum Board Diversity The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) is launching a three-year, $4 million initiative designed to diversify museum boards and leadership. A...
Artist Shantell Martin x New York City Ballet BRITISH ARTIST Shantell Martin has turned her bold, black-and-white line drawings into a cottage industry. Over the past decade, Martin has parlayed her work into a series of high-profile exhibitions, projects, and collaborations. In her latest venture, she’s transformed Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, home...
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
