Vote.org’s Plan Your Vote campaign features voting advocacy artworks by artists including, from left, Julie Mehretu and Calida Rawles ELECTION DAY IS NOV. 3 in the United States and in the lead up artists and art institutions have been active and engaged. The political season has inspired countless artist projects, information campaigns, public art...
Chicago artist AMANDA WILLIAMS proposes Sandra’s refuge: Safe Passage for Free Movement in Public Space for the High Line Plinth. THE PUBLIC WILL HELP DECIDE the artists chosen for two forthcoming installations on the High Line Plinth in New York City. An international advisory committee nominated 80 artists from 40 countries who submitted proposals....
THE YEAR IN BLACK ART is off to a fascinating start. In January, Helen Molesworth organized a Noah Davis (1983-2015) exhibition at David Zwirner gallery in New York, a rare look at more than 20 paintings by the late Los Angeles-based artist and founder of the Underground Museum. The Johnson Publishing Company art collection...
MANY POPULAR AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS are making versions of their work more accessible through objects and products sold at museums and other outlets. A box of artist-inspired notecards, an artful calendar, or a new coffee table book makes the perfect gift. In November, “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power”...
FOR GENERATIONS, African American artists have not received anywhere near the institutional and market recognition experienced by their white peers. In terms of acquisitions, many museums are attempting long-delayed corrections. Few museums have consistently collected works by black artists, leaving historic gaps in their collections. To address these shortfalls and diversify their holdings, three...
Installation view of “Halter” (2019) by Eric N. Mack at Desert X The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related black culture: Harvard Sued for Profiting From Images of Slaves Tamara Lanier of Norwich, Conn., is suing Harvard for “wrongful...
Installation view (partial) of “Storm in a Time of Shelter” (2018) by Paul Rucker. | Photo by Victoria L. Valentine ENCOUNTERING 52 MANNEQUINS outfitted in Ku Klux Klan-style hoods and robes is unsettling, to say the least, even when the racist get-ups are made from brightly colored and patterned fabrics, including kente cloth and...
“White River Fish Kill” (2017) by Nina Chanel Abney. PROSPECT.4 OPENS TO THE PUBLIC on Saturday. The international triennial features major exhibitions and inventive installations by more than 70 artists, including prominent artists of African descent, the late Barkley L. Hendricks, Derrick Adams, John Akomfrah, Hank Willis Thomas, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kahlil Joseph, Odili...
FOR THE ART ENTHUSIASTS ON YOUR LIST, consider a gift inspired by one of the most critically acclaimed African American artists working today. Culture Type has curated a list of 30 fabulous finds to fit any budget and suit a variety of recipients. Many special products were created to accompany major exhibitions in 2016,...
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to visual art by and about people of African descent, with the occasional nod to cultural matters. This week, Theaster Gates announced a groundbreaking apprenticeship program to provide training for local residents through his Rebuild Foundation in Chicago; Rodney McMillian received an important...
Kerry James Marshall’s retrospective, featuring “Untitled (Studio), opens at The Met Breuer Oct. 25. THE VISIONARY AND IMAGINATIVE PAINTINGS of Kerry James Marshall are coming to New York. Presenting 35 years of painting, “Mastry” is the largest retrospective of the artist’s work to date. After debuting at MCA Chicago in April, the exhibition opens...
Kara Walker’s work is on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art; A massive Nick Cave installation open at MASS MoCA Oct. 15. BEYOND NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, AND CHICAGO, there are major U.S. museums and innovative art institutions presenting the work of world-renowned artists. The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is one of...
Embed from Getty Images CHICAGO HAS A VIBRANT ART SCENE, which surprised director Stanley Nelson. The Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker known for telling stories about the Freedom Riders, Emmett Till, Wounded Knee, Jonestown, Oak Bluffs, the Black Press, and most recently, the Black Panthers, has trained his lens on Chicago artists. Nelson is directing...
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to art by and about people of African descent. This week, highlights include plans for a memorial to lynching victims in Montgomery, Ala.; expansion of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s New York headquarters; and news that an outdoor installation of whimsically painted abandoned homes in...
Artists Edgar Arceneaux, Nick Cave, Stan Douglas, and Theaster Gates are featured in Season 8 of ART21. THE NEW SEASON OF “ART21: Art in the 21st Century” debuts Sept. 16, 2016. For the first time, the PBS series is focusing on the connection to place and the ways an artist’s practice is influenced and...
FROM LOS ANGELES TO BOSTON, it’s graduation season. Joining two of this year’s most popular commencement speakers—President Obama (Howard University, Rutgers University, Air Force Academy) and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda (University of Pennsylvania)—Nick Cave, Melvin Edwards, Rick Lowe, Hank Willis Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems, and several other African American artists, are participating in graduation ceremonies....