A post shared by Hirshhorn (@hirshhorn) on Oct 14, 2017 at 11:16am PDT Theaster Gates presented “Plantation Lullabies,” a discussion and performance, at the Hirshhorn Museum Oct. 13. THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM was infused with sacred, soulful music on Friday evening. The museum hosted the second installment of Theaster Gates‘s four-part series Processions. The collaborative...
THE 15TH EDITION of Frieze London was open to the public Oct. 5-8. More than 160 galleries from around the world participated in the art fair at Regent’s Park, where art by more than 1,000 artists were on view. While works by artists of African descent were few and far between, a number received...
TWO AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS are painting official portraits of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The artists were selected by the Obamas. New York-based Kehinde Wiley is painting the president and Baltimore artist Amy Sherald will depict the first lady. The Portrait Gallery commissioned...
TREASURED WORKS BY African American artists Alma Thomas and William H. Johnson are on view outside the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum (SAAM). With the help of the public, the works were selected to grace the new banners hanging at the museum’s entrances. “The Eclipse” (1970) by Thomas and “Flowers” (1939-40) by Johnson greet visitors...
In September, PAFA acquired “Unraveling” (2015-ongoing) by Sonya Clark for $17,000. The artist is deconstructing (or “unraveling”) the Confederate flag on Nov. 4. | Courtesy Sonya Clark THE FATE OF CONFEDERATE STATUES in public spaces. NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem. America’s complicated history with race and views about protest and...
SUSANNE VIELMETTER LOS ANGELES PROJECTS has announced its representation of Samuel Levi Jones. The Chicago-based artist makes innovative three-dimensional works out of books, taking an intellectual approach to working with the tomes that could be described as anthropological abstraction. The news that Jones is joining Susanne Vielmetter comes about four months after the opening...
Jack Whitten walks through “Soul of a Nation” at the Tate Modern and talks about his work and “present times” in America. | Video by Tate Modern NO STRANGER TO RACIAL DIVISION and political strife, Jack Whitten’s abstract canvases tackle weighty issues, confront hard truths, and consider the insights and sacrifices of important cultural...
Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Dawoud Bey. | Photos courtesy MacArthur Foundation THE LATEST CLASS of MacArthur Foundation fellows includes photographer Dawoud Bey and painter Njideka Akunyili Crosby. The artists are among 24 recipients of 2017 “Genius” grants announced today. MacArthur Fellowships are bestowed upon “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in...
Lot 207: HENRY TAYLOR, “Untitled (Symbol),” 2007 (oil on canvas). | Estimate £30,000-£50,000 / $39,210-$65,350. Sold for £230,750 / $301,590 (including fees) RECORD OVER THE PAST SEVERAL AUCTION SEASONS, paintings by Henry Taylor have been selling at steadily increasing prices, regularly setting incremental new records for the artist. Another benchmark was set on Oct....
OYIN OJIH ODUTOLA (b. 1985), “Pregnant,” 2017 (charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper, 74 1/2 x 42 inches). | © Toyin Ojih Odutola. Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York FOR HER FIRST SOLO MUSEUM EXHIBITION in New York, Toyin Ojih Odutola plumbs the culture and heritage of her native Nigeria. She...
TO CELEBRATE ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is being immortalized on a U.S. postage stamp. Based on a photograph of the David Adjaye-designed building, the stamp features a daytime image of the museum’s exterior. The Forever stamp will be available nationwide this friday. “Black history...
Lot 18: HURVIN ANDERSON, “Country Club: Chicken Wire,” 2008 (oil on canvas). | Estimate $700,000-$1 million. Sold for $3,461,916 / £2,648,750 (including fees) RECORD OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS, paintings by Hurvin Anderson were featured at Phillips, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s London auctions. The lots garnered record-breaking interest. On Oct. 6, Phillips sold “Peter’s...
THREE AMERICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS are bestowing lifetime achievement awards on Betye Saar. Next weekend, the Craft & Folk Art Museum Los Angeles (CAFAM) is honoring Saar at its annual fundraising gala. Earlier this year, Saar presented “Keepin’ It Clean,” a solo exhibition of washboard assemblages dating from the 1990s to present at the museum....
Lot 6: HURVIN ANDERSON, “Peter’s Series: Back,” 2008 (oil on canvas). Estimate £600,000-£900,000. Sold for £1,809,000 / $2,387,880 (including fees) RECORD A MAJOR PAINTING by Hurvin Anderson, a finalist for the 2017 Turner Prize, sold for nearly $2.4 million (including fees) at Phillips London last night. “Peter’s Series: Back” (2008) is an important work...
“Flight Into Egypt” (circa 1910) by Henry O. Tanner BUYERS AT THURSDAY’S African-American Fine Art auction at Swann Auction Galleries in New York expressed significant interest in modern and contemporary painting. There was a broad selection to choose from with multiple offerings by celebrated painters Ed Clark, Beauford Delaney, Sam Gilliam, Lois Mailou Jones,...
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MoMA) in New York is presenting a major retrospective of conceptual artist Adrian Piper in spring 2018. The most comprehensive exhibition to explore her practice,”Adrian Piper: A Synthesis of Intuitions, 1965–2016″ will feature more than 280 works drawn from public and private collections around the world and be on...
THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART has submitted a proposal to the City of New York for a public art project by David Hammons. Titled “Day’s End,” the architectural sculpture bridges the past and the present. It’s a contemporary art work grounded in history. The work would be sited directly across from the Whitney...
THE FALL EXHIBITION SEASON IS UNDERWAY and a wide variety of amazing shows featuring Black artists is on view in museums and galleries. This month, exhibitions featuring major figures and emerging talents opened across the United States and at international venues. Kara Walker, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Jordan Casteel, Kahlil Joseph, Chris Ofili, Adrian Piper, and...
THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART announced it has received a gift of five contemporary art works from philanthropist Agnes Gund, including “Tea for Two (The Collector)” by Robert Colescott (1925-2009). The 1980 painting depicts a nattily dressed black man (the collector) leaning against a fireplace with circles of smoke hanging in the air above...
From left, Robert E. Holmes, Victoria Valentine, Nigel Freeman. BEYOND THE INCONTROVERTIBLE INFLUENCE and authority of curators and scholars, professionals from a variety of backgrounds are playing increasingly important roles in preserving art and culture. To explore this phenomenon, Culture Type is joining Swann Auction Galleries for an Oct. 3 discussion about “New Voices...
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