Latest News in Black Art: Oliver Lee Jackson Received Lee Krasner Award, Williams Sisters Auctioning Ernie Barnes Works, Nigeria Exhibiting at Venice Biennale & More
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Oliver Lee Jackson. | Photo by Weston Wells AWARDS & HONORS The Pollock-Krasner Foundation announced painter, sculptor, printmaker, and educator Oliver Lee Jackson is the recipient of the foundation’s Lee Krasner Award recognizing a lifetime...
50+ Museum Exhibitions to See This Fall Feature Artists Henry Taylor, Fred Eversley, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Theaster Gates, Black Potters, Just Above Midtown Gallery & More
AT A TIME WHEN NEW YORK CITY galleries and museums had little interest in African American artists, Linda Goode Bryant established Just Above Midtown, a gallery and community space that served as both sanctuary and experimental platform for artists of color. Half a century after its founding in 1974, Just Above Midtown is now...
Major Artworks by Romare Bearden, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Amy Sherald, Stanley Whitney, Jacob Lawrence & More Highlighted at ‘Evening’ Auctions in New York
IN NEW YORK, MAJOR AUCTION HOUSES lined up a variety of significant works by critically recognized Black artists for their modern and contemporary art Evening Auctions, with estimates ranging from the high six figures to multiple millions. Several lots carried estimates that if reached would result in new artist records at auction. The premium...
Coming Soon: Toyin Ojih Odutola’s ‘A Countervailing Theory’ Exhibition Will Make U.S. Debut at Hirshhorn Museum This Fall
THIS FALL, A FASCINATING STORY about Nigerian women, female warriors who ruled a prehistoric civilization, will be told at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Presented through a series of 40 large-scale monochromatic drawings by Toyin Ojih Odutola, the mythological narrative conceived by the artist will unfold on the Smithsonian museum’s...
Phillips Contemporary Evening Auction Opened With Works by Joy Labinjo, Lina Iris Viktor, and Toyin Ojih Odutola, Painting by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones Set New Record
PHILLIPS MOST RECENT 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale was front loaded with works by Black artists—six of the first seven lots. Five of the artists were Black women. An untitled painting by rising artist Joy Labinjo, a charming narrative self-portrait with her mother, was Lot 1, opening the auction. A figurative painting...
There’s a New Wave of Critically Recognized Black Female Artists. These Publications are the First to Document Their Work
A NEW WAVE OF BLACK FEMALE ARTISTS has been making strides in the art world, over the past several years, with major exhibitions, museum acquisitions, collector support, gallery representation, and auction records that most practitioners don’t see in their entire careers. These recent publications are the first major volumes to document the individual practices...
Toyin Ojih Odutola Calls Her Portrait of Zadie Smith a ‘Love Letter to Black Britain’
THE MUTUAL ADMIRATION between storytellers Zadie Smith and Toyin Ojih Odutola is palpable. The British novelist has written about the Nigerian-born visual artist’s work for British Vogue and contributed an essay to her forthcoming catalog, “Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Countervailing Theory,” which will accompany a show at the Barbican Centre in London, the artist’s...
New Drawings by Toyin Ojih Odutola Pair Powerful Portraits with Invented Stories
“As He Watched Him Walk Away” (2020) by Toyin Ojih Odutola A NEW SERIES OF WORKS ON PAPER by Toyin Ojih Odutola explores her fascination with marrying images and text. The artist’s pursuit satiates the viewer’s natural inclination to spin narratives around her powerful and alluring portraits. This desire to imagine the lives and...
Time Magazine Recognizes 100 Years of Influential Women with Covers by Mickalene Thomas, Bisa Butler, and Toyin Ojih Odutola
TIME MAGAZINE is exploring the most influential women of the past century. 2020 marks 100 years since women gained the right to vote in the United States. To recognize the milestone that transformed women’s individual and collective agency, the magazine launched a project called 100 Women of the Year. Introducing the project, Nancy Gibbs,...
Paintings By Black Female Artists Soar at London Contemporary Auctions, Records Set by Kara Walker, Tschabalala Self, Nina Chanel Abney, and Toyin Ojih Odutola
IN VIVID BLACK AND BLUE, “Four Idioms on Negro Art #4 Primitivism” (2015) by Kara Walker depicts a violent confrontation among four silhouetted figures. A police officer in combat gear hovers over the scene. A phallus hanging between his wide spread legs, he is kicking a male figure that is sucking the breast of...
‘Selective Histories’ by Toyin Ojih Odutola Set Auction Record in London, Forthcoming Lot in New York May Surpass Benchmark
SOTHEBY’S RECENT Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London featured 65 lots. Only 13 of the works were by women artists, but the representation was a milestone. According to Sotheby’s, it was the highest proportion of works by women the auction house has ever offered in an evening sale. Each season, the evening sale is...
Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated Sale Offered Look at Rarely Seen Works by Faith Ringgold, Henry Taylor, Robert Colescott, Romare Bearden, Jack Whitten & More
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS figured prominently in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Curated auction. Works by 32 African American artists were offered, some rarely if ever shown publicly including a 2002 portrait of Malcolm X by Henry Taylor acquired directly from the artist and a pair of Robert Colescott interior scenes that give a nod to Roy...
Culture Type: The Year in Black Art 2018
IN MANY WAYS, 2018 was a watershed year for black artists. Overdue recognition of art by African American artists and black artists from throughout the world, continued to grow among collectors, curators, critics, scholars, and gallery owners. There were many indicators of the ever-expanding institutional and market interest. European attention on African American artists rose....
Whitney Museum Acquired 417 Works Recently, Faith Ringgold, Derrick Adams, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Julie Mehretu are Among the Artists Represented
“Husband and Wife” (2017) is one of three works by Toyin Ojih Odutola acquired by the Whitney Museum. FOR A YEAR, THE WHITNEY MUSUEM of American Art displayed “Hate Is a Sin Flag” a 2007 work by Faith Ringgold. It is a relatively small print, about 19 inches square, that makes a profound statement....
The Week in African American Art: Zoé Whitley Named Curator of British Pavilion at 2019 Venice Biennale & More
Zoé Whitley to curate British Pavilion at 2019 Venice Biennale. | Photo by Andrew Dunkley, Tate Photography The following review of the past week presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture: APPOINTMENTS British Pavilion at Venice Biennale Zoé Whitley is curating the British Pavilion at the...
Representation: 9 Artists to Watch Who Joined New Galleries in 2017
AT ANY STAGE of an artist’s career, partnership with the right gallery can be transformative. New gallery representation offers the opportunity to better communicate the focus of an artist’s practice; expose their work to a broader audience of collectors, curators, and critics; and encourage and support exhibitions, projects, and even a new creative direction. In...
Survey: The Latest News in African American Art and Beyond, Dec. 3, 2017
SURVEY 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. Pérez Art Museum Miami is among 20 institutions benefitting from diversity initiative supported by Ford and Walton Family foundations. $6 Million Initiative Aims to Diversify...
Anderson Cooper on His Newfound Passion for Contemporary Art: ‘I Really Love Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Toyin Ojih Odutola’
ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, Anderson Cooper “got really serious” about collecting art. In an interview with Town & Country, the CNN anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent discusses how he and his partner Benjamin Maisani are assembling a collection that represents their disparate tastes and shared interests. Of the two, Maisani is the veteran collector...
October Openings: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Toyin Ojih Odutola, John Akomfrah, African Design, Hank Willis Thomas Debuts in London, and Women Working in Abstraction
THE FALL SEASON continues with an international slate of black artists presenting new and important work in the United States and abroad. The Whitney is hosting Toyin Ojih Odutola‘s first exhibition in a New York museum. A monumental exhibition of African design is making its U.S. debut at the High Museum in Atlanta. Njideka...
Known for Her Conceptual Portraiture, Toyin Ojih Odutola’s First Solo Museum Show in New York Opens at the Whitney Oct. 20
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...