On View: Monumental Sculptures by Zizipho Poswa at Southern Guild in Los Angeles ‘Channel Socio-Cultural and Spiritual Elements That Underpin African Creation’
Installation view of “Zizipho Poswa: Indyebo yakwaNtu (Black Bounty),” Southern Guild, Los Angeles, Calif., 2024. | Courtesy Southern Guild On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions GRACEFUL AND BOLD, the ceramic and bronze sculptures of South African artist Zizipho Poswa celebrate African womanhood. A testament to her matrilineal heritage, the works invoke contemporary...
Cauleen Smith is Shining a Light on the Powerful Poetry of Wanda Coleman and the Contours of Los Angeles that Inspired Her
CAULEEN SMITH, Still from “The Wanda Coleman Songbook,” 2024. The installation is accompanied by limited-edition soundtrack with contributions by Kelsey Lu, Shala Miller, moor mother and Aquiles Navarro, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jeff Parker and Ruby Parker, Alice Smith, and Jamila Woods and Standing on the Corner. | © Cauleen Smith. Courtesy the artist and 52 Walker,...
Painter Sam Gilliam Remained Highly Productive in His Last Five Years, ‘He Was Talking About Freedom, Expression, and Commitment to Abstract Art’
Installation view of “Sam Gilliam: The Last Five Years” at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles. The exhibition features a symphony of drape paintings made by the artist in 2018. | Courtesy David Kordansky Gallery IN LOS ANGELES, a symphony of color-soaked canvases are suspended from the ceiling of the South Gallery at David...
39 Artists Selected for Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. Biennial, Including Septuagenarians Akinsanya Kambon and Teresa Tolliver
Announcement video for the sixth edition of Made in L.A. lists the 39 artists selected for the 2023 biennial. | Video by Hammer Museum THE HAMMER MUSEUM announced 39 artists and collectives selected to participate in its forthcoming Made in L.A. biennial, including Sula Bermúdez-Silverman, Emmanuel Louisnord Desir, Akinsanya Kambon, Dominique Moody, Devin Reynolds,...
Gov. Gavin Newsom Appointed Dedicated LA Arts Patron Joy Simmons to California African American Museum Board of Directors
A LONGSTANDING PATRON OF THE ARTS, Dr. Virginia Joy Simmons, has joined the State Board of Directors at the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles. Chartered by the State of California in 1977, CAAM is a state-funded museum. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Simmons to the non-compensated position on Dec. 22, 2022. “Simmons...
Art Therapist Muna El Fituri Sold Her 1920s Castle-Style LA Residence to Artists Jonas Wood and Shio Kusaka for $10.3 Million
PERCHED HIGH ABOVE THE CITY, a grand Mediterranean villa in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz has changed hands, selling artist to artist, for nearly $10.3 million. The buyers are married LA artists Jonas Wood and Shio Kusaka, and the seller is Muna El Fituri. The transaction was first reported by the real...
Shrouds and Spirit Catchers: Woven Paintings by Alonzo Davis are Layered with Personal Meaning and Cultural Symbolism
ALONZO DAVIS, King’s Peace Cloth, 1985 (acrylic on woven canvas, 56 x 56 inches). | © Alonzo Davis, Courtesy Alonzo Davis and parrasch heijnen ‘Alonzo Davis: The Blanket Series’ is on view at Parrasch Heijnen gallery in Los Angeles. The artist spoke about the series during oral history interviews with UCLA REV....
Beyond Frieze: 18 Los Angeles-Area Museum Exhibitions Are Showcasing Works by Spectrum of Black Artists
THE ART WORLD is increasingly drawn to Greater Los Angeles, where the vibrant cultural landscape continues to transform. New art museums and a new wave of commercial galleries are establishing roots and a major art fair has a committed audience. The Orange County Museum of Art is inaugurating a new building in a new...
On View: See Images From ‘Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch,’ First Survey of Artist’s Quilt-Based Works at California African American Museum in Los Angeles
“Bonsai” (2016) by Sanford Biggers On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions WORKING WITH ANTIQUE, pre-1900 quilts, Sanford Biggers makes mixed-media works that present as painted textiles and sculptural installations. The quilt-based works are inspired by the modern and contemporary artistry of the Black women who have been making quilts in Gee’s Bend,...
On View: See Images From ‘June Edmonds: Full Spectrum,’ a 40-Year Survey at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles
“For Maria: Lost Cienega” (2021) by June Edmonds On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions TRACING HER JOURNEY from figuration to abstraction, “Full Spectrum” at Laband Art Gallery surveys the practice of June Edmonds over the past 40 years. Edmonds was born in Los Angeles, where she continues to live and work. Over...
On View: ‘Corey Pemberton: Home/Body,’ Artist’s First West Coast Solo Exhibition at UNREPD in Los Angeles
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions THE PORTRAITS Corey Pemberton makes capture people he knows at home. The artist describes his subjects as “people in his life whose bodies and identities fall outside of the traditional raced, gendered, and sexualized boundaries of ordinariness.” Pemberton’s current exhibition unites these two concerns. His paintings...
Meg Onli Appointed Co-Leader of Black-Founded Underground Museum in Los Angeles, Will Serve as Director and Curator
THE UNDERGROUND MUSEUM in Los Angeles announced the appointment of Meg Onli as director and curator. She joins the museum from the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she served as associate curator. Onli is taking on a co-leadership role at the Black-founded museum with Cristina Pacheco. A...
Los Angeles: 5 New Gallery Exhibitions are Dedicated to Artists Lorna Simpson, Betye Saar, Amoako Boafo, June Edmonds, and Rashid Johnson
LOS ANGELES GALLERIES are brimming with new exhibitions featuring new works by prominent Black artists. The intergenerational slate includes Amoako Boafo, June Edmonds, Rashid Johnson, Lorna Simpson, and Betye Saar, all of whom have coinciding museum exhibitions and public art projects at a variety of venues nationwide. LORNA SIMPSON, “Recurring,” 2021 (ink and...
Latest News in Black Art: New Weeksville CEO, Cranbrook Academy Investing $30 Million Gift in Student Diversity, Major Acquisitions at PAFA, Morgan Library, and High Museum
The following is a snapshot of the latest news in Black art: Raymond Codrington. | Courtesy Weeksville Heritage Center Appointments Brooklyn’s Weeksville Heritage Center Names New CEO Raymond Codrington is joining Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn as CEO. The news was announced April 6. A cultural anthropologist, Codrington has served as...
On View: ‘Caroline Kent: A Sudden Appearance of the Sun’ at Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions FOR HER FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION with Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, Caroline Kent is presenting a suite of large-scale paintings. Kent explores the intersection of language, abstraction, and painting. She begins by covering her canvases with black paint, creating a “non-space” of “unlocatability.” From there, the...
California African American Museum in Los Angeles Hired Two New Curators: Taylor Renee Aldridge and Susan D. Anderson
Taylor Renee Aldridge joined CAAM as visual arts curator. | Photo by Paper Monday IN LOS ANGELES, the California African American Museum (CAAM) announced two key curatorial appointments. Detroit-based independent curator and writer Taylor Renee Aldridge is joining the museum as visual arts curator and program manager. Susan D. Anderson, a public historian...
‘Soul of a Nation’ is Traveling to the West Coast, Exhibition Will Be on View in Spring 2019 at The Broad in Los Angeles
“Did the Bear Sit Under the Tree” (1969) by Benny Andrews THE INTERNATIONAL TOUR for “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power” has been extended. The exhibition will be on view at The Broad next March. The Los Angeles museum is the exhibition’s only West Coast venue and the show’s...
Culture Talk: Kellie Jones Discusses ‘South of Pico,’ Her Recently Published Book About African American Artists in Los Angeles in the 1960s and ’70s
Kellie Jones, author of “South of Pico.” A DECADE AGO, Kellie Jones set out to write a book about African American artists in Los Angeles. The focus of her research was the 1960s and ’70s, a period when artists in the city were experimenting with materials and form, and mixing art with activism. Shortly...
Recognized for His Distinctive Visual Style, Filmmaker Kahlil Joseph is Recipient of 2017 Los Angeles Artadia Award
Installation view, KAHLIL JOSEPH: Double Conscience at MOCA LA SOUGHT AFTER ARTIST AND FILMMAKER Kahlil Joseph has worked with Kendrick Lamar, Shabazz Palaces, Flying Lotus, FKA Twigs, and shared a directing credit with Beyonce on her visual album “Lemonade.” He has also collaborated with film director Terrence Malick and visual artists Henry Taylor, Martine...
Mark Bradford Ranks Among Most Expensive West Coast Artists
LOS ANGELES-BASED ARTIST Mark Bradford is among the 10 most expensive living West Coast artists, according to artnet News. Last year, his 2008 mixed-media collage “Mithra,” sold for more than $2.6 million at auction, a record for the artist. The impressive price earned him a No. 7 ranking among artists including Ed Ruscha, Mark Grotjahn,...
