Harlem’s Studio Museum has announced plans for a new, $122 million building, designed by David Adjaye, on West 125th Street. “We have outgrown the space,” says Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden. “Our program and our audience require us to answer those demands.” (more…)
Theaster Gates, White Sky, overcast (2014), All Images Courtesy White Cube Gallery
Now through July 5, the White Cube Gallery in Bermondsey presents an exhibition of new work by Theaster Gates, the installation artist and professor of visual art at the University of Chicago who draws from themes of individual and collective history, place and self, and empowerment in his work. Freedom of Assembly continues and expands upon the artist’s approach to art as a vehicle for social-justice, communication, and critique.
Theaster Gates, Freedom of Assembly (Installation View)
Glenn Ligon, Come Out #5 (2014)
Regen Projects is presenting its fourth exhibition with Glenn Ligon, the prominent New York-based artist who has established himself as one of the strongest voices in American contemporary art. Well, it’s bye-bye/If you call that gone, featuring three bodies of work, adopts its title from the lyrics of the blues song “What’s the Matter Now”, projecting Ligon’s interest in text as a mode of expression and an agent of collective identity. (more…)
Sotheby’s has announced a partnership with Drake, welcoming the rapper to partner with the auction house during an exhibition and private sale of works by black artists in the coming months. The artist will select music to play during the exhibition, part of Sotheby’s increased focus on private sales. (more…)
The Museum of Modern Art has announced plans for an exhibition focusing on the African-American migration north during the early 20th Century, including a reunited Migration Series, Jacob Lawrence’s 60-panel drawing featuring scenes of the Great Migration. “Lawrence was rectifying what it meant to be a young man in a segregated North with being part of a people that have just moved from slavery to freedom,” says radio host Terrance McKnight. (more…)
Mickalene Thomas, Portrait of Qusuquzah (2008) all images courtesy Galerie Nathalie Obadia and The Monaco Project for the Arts
At the Pavillon Bosio at the École Supérieure d’Arts Plastiques in Monaco is a collection of paintings, a series of photographs, and a new video by American artist Mickalene Thomas. Entitled Femme au divan II, the exhibition will remain on view through August 31st, and includes a series of photographs and paintings incorporating Thomas’s fascination with various time periods and perspectives on female African-American identity.
Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled (Woman and daughter with makeup) from Kitchen Table Series(1990), all images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim
Documenting the landmark work of video maker, photographer, spoken word poet and textile artist Carrie Mae Weems, The Guggenheim is currently presenting a body of work spanning over thirty years in the artist’s career, including a number of the artist’s most significant and iconic works.
Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography (Installation View) (more…)
GQ is currently featuring an interview with painter Kehinde Wiley, profiling the artist on a recent trip to Morocco for his ongoing portraiture series. Charting the artist’s early life in South Central Los Angeles through his ascension in the art world, the piece offers a studied history of both Wiley’s life and output, including his famous portrait of Michael Jackson. Initially, “I ignored him, because quite honestly I thought it was a prank,” Wiley says. “Surprisingly, he was really knowledgeable about art and art history.” (more…)
