Culture Type: The 13 Best Black Art Books of 2023
The Best Black Art Books of 2023 explore the work of Simone Leigh, Benjamin Wigfall, Kerry James Marshall, Hughie Lee-Smith, Dalton Paula, William Edmondson, and more A GLORIOUS TRIBUTE and essential overview, “Simone Leigh” is the first publication to document the singular artist’s practice, which focuses on sculpture and centers Black female subjectivity. The catalogue...
Sixty Years Ago, the March on Washington Inspired Change and Drew Many Artists, Including a Future Photographer Named Frank Stewart
SIXTY YEARS AGO, Bayard Rustin stood on the grounds of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., hoping after a short two months of intense organizing that crowds of demonstrators would come to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “I was terrified people wouldn’t show,” Rustin told the Washington Post years later....
What to See in U.S. Museums This Summer: 15 Solo Exhibitions Featuring Black Artists – Simone Leigh, James Barnor, Ming Smith, Whitfield Lovell, Gary Simmons & More
SOME OF THE SUMMER’S BEST U.S. museum exhibitions are on view beyond the art capitals of New York and Los Angeles. Landmark solo exhibitions of an inter-generational slate of prominent Black artists can be seen in Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and many cities in between. The first museum survey of photographer Ming Smith is...
A Nexus for the Black Community, Tone Memphis is Presenting ‘On The Road: Chocolate Cities,’ Group Exhibition Explores Space, Place, and Belonging
A GROUP EXHIBITION in Memphis, Tenn., brings together a slate of mostly rising artists whose work explores notions of Blackness, space, place, and belonging. Tone Memphis, a Black arts nonprofit in Memphis, Tenn., is presenting “On The Road: Chocolate Cities: Exploration of Space Across the Black Diaspora.” Organized by Larry Ossei-Mensah, the exhibition reflects...
Culture Talk: Frank Stewart on His Jazz Photographs, Approach to Image Making, and Forthcoming Museum Retrospective
THE ARRAY OF IMAGES Frank Stewart has made over the course of his career is dizzying. He’s photographed African American culture in its many forms—art, food, dance, and music, jazz in particular. He’s made portraits of artists, shot barbecue in the South and Midwest, and captured the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He photographed a...
In Memoriam, Artists, Curators, and Scholars Share Memories of David C. Driskell: He ‘Was an Agitator for African American Art’ and ‘Lit the Way in Our Lives and Careers’
DAVID C. DRISKELL (1931-2020) helped build the field of African American art history and was a nexus for three generations of artists, curators, and scholars who have studied and are fortifying the discipline. A pivotal figure in American art and leading authority on African American art, Driskell died on April 1. He was 88....
Using His Camera as an Instrument, Frank Stewart Has Been Hanging with Jazz Musicians for Five Decades
MILES DAVIS HOLDING COURT with the press after a performance at Lincoln Center is one of Frank Stewart’s more well-known photographs. A camera flash shines bright aimed at Davis who is perched against a wall on the opposite side of the room, elevated slightly just above everyone, his shadow cast behind him. Stewart shot...
Corcoran Collection Art Goes to Howard University, and Smithsonian African American and Anacostia Museums
Sam Gilliam’s 1969 painting, “Light Depth” will be added to the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. | Courtesy Corcoran Collection THE REMAINING ART from the Corcoran Gallery of Art has been distributed. More than 10,750 works were given away. Nearly all of it went to 22 institutions in Washington, D.C. The...
Summer Shows: New Exhibitions Feature African American Artists Beverly Buchanan, Arthur Jafa, Glenn Ligon and Bradford Young
A NUMBER OF GEMS OPENED this month. Summer tends to be a relatively quiet season art-wise, but this year major international events—Venice Biennale, Documenta 14, and Art Basel—are coinciding with compelling gallery and museum exhibitions featuring works by black artists. From San Francisco and Detroit, to Greece, London and Cape Town, exhibitions by artists including...
