STANDING PROUD AND UNITED, a multi-generational African American family is featured on the February 2017 cover of Ebony magazine. They stand before a brick home on an expanse of land with a city skyline visible in the background. The image illustrates a special package featuring 10 thought leaders weighing in on how black communities...
London-based Elvira Dyangani Ose is joining Creative Time. | Photo by Hendrik Zeitler, Courtesy Creative Time CREATIVE TIME, THE PUBLIC ARTS ORGANIZATION that commissioned Kara Walker’s monumental, sugar-coated sphinx/mammy sculpture in Brooklyn and Nick Cave’s choreographed parade of colorful “horses” through Grand Central Station, announced two appointments today—a new hire and a promotion. Elvira...
“We the People” at Barnes Foundation, 2016 SIX YEARS AGO, artist Nari Ward created a textile installation composed of nearly 1,000 shoe laces spelling out “We the People.” The work of art is particularly relevant today. The divisive political climate in the United States has awakened Americans anew to the values of democracy, importance...
EMERGING FROM HER SUCCESSFUL THESIS SHOW with the sole painting she presented selling to prominent Miami collectors, Nina Chanel Abney (b. 1982) has never looked back since earning her MFA from Parsons in New York. The aforementioned painting, “Class of 2007,” helped her secure gallery representation and appeared in “30 Americans,” the traveling group...
FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS, “Three Folk Musicians” (1967) by Romare Bearden (1911-1988) has appeared in major exhibitions of the artist’s work hosted by the nation’s top-tier museums. One of his most renowned and recognizable individual works, the 1967 collage painting was presented in the Museum of Modern Art’s 1971 exhibition “Romare Bearden: The Prevalence...
Chicago-based McArthur Binion is among the artists invited to participate in the 57th Venice Biennial. HOW TIME FLIES. It certainly doesn’t seem like two years has elapsed since Nigerian-born Okwui Enwezor’s historic turn as artistic director of the 2015 Venice Biennale and “All the World’s Futures” featured more than 35 black artists, including Glenn...
SYMBOLIZING THE BLACK BODY, Simone Leigh‘s black ceramic busts embellished with textured glaze or countless tiny roses are a sight to see. Imagine a monumental version of one of her sculptures installed on the High Line, rising so high it is visible from the street below. It’s a possibility that might materialize next year....
Installation view, 1:54 New York 2016 © Katrina Sorrentino WHAT BEGAN AS A POP-UP is turning into an annual event. After its debut in 2015, and return in 2016, the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair is staging its third edition in New York. This year, the fair is May 5-7 at Pioneer Works in...
Curator Ruth Fine previews Norman Lewis exhibition at PAFA – Nov. 12, 2015 | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine THE COLLEGE ART ASSOCIATION (CAA) announced recipients of its 2017 Awards for Distinction and art historian Ruth Fine is among the honorees. Fine organized “Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis,” the first major museum retrospective...
The new acquisitions exhibition features Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s 2016 painting “Super Blue Omo.” THE NORTON MUSEUM OF ART is celebrating Black History Month by mounting an exhibition of recent acquisitions by black contemporary artists. “Spotlight: Recent Acquisitions” features eight works—recently executed paintings by Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Mickalene Thomas, photographs and a sculpture by...
AFTER MAKING A SHORT LIST of six artists from around the world vying for the UK’s top prize for international contemporary artists, John Akomfrah has won the Artes Mundi 7. Exploring the historic arc of migration, Akomfrah’s work is particularly pertinent given the migration issues and refugee crisis—and surrounding humanitarian concerns and political...
Feb. 16: Betye and Alison Saar are in Conversation at CAAM, Los Angeles | Screen Shot New York Times video THERE ARE SOME GREAT CONVERSATIONS happening between women this month. Artist Ellen Gallagher with curator Adrienne Edwards. Mickalene Thomas and scholar Beverly Guy-Sheftall. Models Pat Cleveland and Bethann Hardison. Scholar Kellie Jones with social...
April 25, 2015: Devin Allen’s image of a man running from a phalanx of Baltimore Police went viral and landed on the cover of Time magazine. | Photo by Devin Allen THE GORDON PARKS FOUNDATION is providing support to one of the most talented young black photographers to emerge in recent years. The foundation...
Sculptor Edmonia Lewis by Sophie Diao TODAY’S GOOGLE DOODLE celebrates artist Edmonia Lewis (1844?-1907). She is considered the first black woman to receive international recognition in the fine art world as a sculptor. The Feb. 1 tribute marks the beginning of Black History Month. The Google logo is executed in script with a painted...
An exterior view of the Hirshhorn Museum shows the cylindrical form of the building. | Courtesy Smithsonian Institution MORE THAN A YEAR AGO, in October 2015, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden announced Mark Bradford would be presenting his first-ever exhibition in Washington, D.C. The site-specific commission will utilize the entire expanse of the...
Deana Haggag has been appointed president and CEO of United States Artists. UNITED STATES ARTISTS (USA) announced a new president and CEO. Deana Haggag, executive director of The Contemporary in Baltimore, has been tapped to lead the organization. USA provides support to American artists working across a range of disciplines through $50,000 fellowships. Haggag...
CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM of American Art is adding to its collection. The Bentonville, Ark., institution announced the acquisition of a 1964 painting by Alice Neel (1900-1984) that portrays actor and civil rights activist Hugh Hurd (1925-1995), who lived in Spanish Harlem. The museum told Culture Type the painting was acquired from David Zwirner Gallery...
Faith Ringgold and Kerry James Marshall are being honored by CAA. TWO AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS are receiving the College Art Association’s top Awards of Distinction. CAA announced Kerry James Marshall is being honored with the 2017 CAA Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work. The 2017 CAA Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement...
CONNIE H. CHOI is joining the Studio Museum in Harlem as associate curator, permanent collection. In her new position, she is responsible for the strategic vision for the museum’s collection, a repository of more than 2,200 objects created between the 19th and 21st centuries. Her first day at the Studio Museum is Feb. 6. “We...
SONYA CLARK, “Madam C. J. Walker,” 2008 (combs). | Collection of Blanton Museum of Art THE BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART is reinstalling its permanent collection. When the second-floor gallery spaces reopen on Feb. 12, works by African American artists will be among the standout attractions. The collection exhibition features new acquisitions and holdings that...
Barnes Foundation Appointed Judia S. Jackson Head of Human Resources and Culture at Philadelphia Museum
Jun 1, 2025
Malcolm X at 100: Transformational Leader and Outspoken Orator Inspired Artworks by Jack Whitten and Barbara Chase-Riboud
May 30, 2025
Alma Thomas Way: Washington D.C., Street Where Famous African American Artist Lived is Now Named in Her Honor
May 26, 2025
On View: ‘Vanessa German: Gumball’ Presented Monumental Heads and Fallen Figures at Kasmin Gallery in New York
May 11, 2025
Los Angeles Artist Alison Saar is 2025 Recipient of David C. Driskell Prize, For 20 Years Award Has Recognized ‘Field-Defining’ Contributions to African American Art
May 9, 2025
