Lists and Suggestions

"Highlighting a new generation of black artists, 'Young, Gifted and Black' surveys works drawn from the collection of Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi, longtime champions of emerging artists of African descent. Edited by Antwaun Sargent, the book features over 100 artworks.

"This is the first study of the portraits Barack Obama (2018) and Michelle Obama (2018), their reception, and their significance. The book includes essays by historians examining the influence of the paintings and what they reveal about contemporary portraiture, particularly in relation to American and African American history and culture.

"A richly illustrated exploration of Black culture at its most wildly imaginative and artistically ambitious... assembles art and imagery from across the African diaspora. Embracing the mythic and the speculative, it recycles and reconfigures elements of fable, folklore, science fiction, spiritual traditions, ceremonial pageantry and the legacies of Afrofuturism.

Faith Ringgold is a critically acclaimed American artist whose unique methods of visual storytelling have documented and advanced art historical, feminist, and civil-rights movements for more than half a century. Accompanying a major retrospective at the New Museum, New York, this expansive survey covers work from all periods of her career, including her early civil rights-era figurative paintings, her graphic political protest posters, and her signature experimental story quilts. Exhibition: New Museum, New York, USA (17.02.-05.06.2022).

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, Kwame Brathwaite used his photography to popularize the political slogan "Black Is Beautiful." This monograph--the first ever dedicated to Brathwaite's remarkable career--tells the story of a key, but under-recognized, figure of the second Harlem Renaissance.

"In 'The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion', curator and critic Antwaun Sargent addresses a radical transformation taking place in fashion and art today. The presentation of black figures and black runway and cover models in the media and art has been one marker of increasingly inclusive fashion and art communities.

"In Black Hollywood, photographer Carell Augustus has enlisted Black celebrities and performers from all areas of entertainment to recreate iconic scenes from classic Hollywood movies, television, and other media. The images illuminate the role of race in Hollywood history by re-imagining classic films with Black actors, renewing readers' appreciation of the past while celebrating the hottest Black stars of today and inspiring the artists of the future.

"Through more than fifty paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, Black Artists in America explores the various ways in which African American artists responded to the political, social, and economic climate of the United States from the time of the Great Depression through the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision"--

The exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance, a period of cultural blossoming that occurred in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem in the 1920-50s. Curated by Columbus native and highly acclaimed writer Wil Haygood, the exhibition includes work by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, and others who interpreted the lives of African Americans during this time. In addition, the exhibition includes unprinted photographs by James Van Der Zee obtained through the artist's estate and a private collection of vernacular photographs of African American life.

"The African diaspora - a direct result of the transatlantic slave trade and Western colonialism - has generated a wide array of artistic achievements, from blues and reggae, to the paintings of the pioneering African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner and video creations of contemporary hip-hop artists.

The Art of Winold Reiss brings to light the creative and forward-thinking work of this German-born artist. Winold Reiss (1886-1953) arrived in New York in 1913, the year of the ground-breaking Armory Show. The exhibition shook the American art scene to its core and ushered in a radically new artistic sensibility, whilst Reiss's exuberant, dynamic designs anticipated the American passion for the new European avant-garde art.

Stories of Black artists who drew -- mostly covertly behind the scenes -- superhero, horror, and romance comics in the early years of the industry. The life stories of each man's personal struggles and triumphs are represented as they broke through into a world formerly occupied only by whites.

Curated by Jasmin Hernandez, the dynamic founder of Gallery Gurls, We Are Here presents the bold and nuanced work of Black and Brown visionaries transforming the art world, with a particular focus on queer, trans and nonbinary artists. This collection features fifty of the most influential voices in New York, Los Angeles, and beyond.

When the art world has paid attention to makers from outside the cultural establishment, including so-called outsider and self-taught artists, it has generally been within limiting categories. Yet these artists, including many women, people with disabilities, and people of color, have had a transformative influence on the history of modern art.

"Bronzeville was once America’s most vibrant Black community―next to Harlem. Nightclubs, dance halls, rialtos, jazz and blues joints lined the streets of Chicago’s South Side. Not much is left. A few sound recordings, memories passed down from generation to generation, and―until now―only a handful of photographs.