Loading the player… By Keyaira Boone ·January 28, 2021January 28, 2021
Before the black square became the official aesthetic of doth that protest too much, Black artists and curators were using their lenses, brushes, and keystrokes to translate cultural experiences, diversify collections, and add context to symbols.
A 2019 study by the nonprofit Public Library of Science, found that approximately 85.4% of artists on display in major U.S. museums are White. The stories behind the canvases are just as bland. The Mellon Foundation found that 88% of people hired for executive and conservation roles in leadership at these institutions were white as well.
Rihanna by Lorna Simpson Of Earth & Sky, 2020 Photographic collage Dimensions variable © Lorna Simpson Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Anecdotal instances of Black art being systematically appropriated and devalued tumbled out this summer with Black professionals speaking openly about their struggles. But amidst the empty virtue signaling and ironic attempts to acquire diversity for cents on the dollar, is a group of creators and educators determined to make a difference.
Black curators and artists are striving higher and stretching further to introduce new ideas about identity, race, and power, combat the evils of misogynoir and erasure, and recognize the collective contributions of the Black community.
Meet 14 of these contemporary artists and curators you should know below.
01Lorna SimpsonWidely recognized for reframing snapshots of vintage Black glamour, Simpson’s collages are magical mash-ups. Recently she wowed the world with an exclusive ESSENCE cover featuring Rihanna that spoke to the powerful themes of gender, race and identity present in her work. 
Rihanna by Lorna Simpson, Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth 02Antwaun SargentSargent is a sought after curator and writer devoted to encouraging the critical engagement of overlooked creators. Just this year, Gagosian named him director and curator of its gallery. His first book, “The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion” was released in 2019. 
03Julie MehretuMehteru’s work confronts neo-colonialism by examining history, politics, and displacement with large-scale works on paper that force audiences to reconsider their place in the world. Her abstract approach to exploring the concept of space will be on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art beginning March 25. 
04CHAÉDRIA LABOUVIERLaBouvier is a Basquiat scholar, writer, philanthropist and guest curator who has boldly spoken out about her experiences with systemic racism in the art world. 
05Knowledge BennetBennet challenges iconography by manipulating pervasive images using unexpected symbols and gestures. 
06Jordan CasteelCasteel’s large-scale paintings of subjects in their own communities snatch audiences’ gaze. Her solo show at the New Museum, Within Reach, brought the nuances of the bodega and the braiding shop to the bowery. 
07Kambui OlujimiOlujimi’s work uses familiar objects as vessels to transport you through time, memory, and grief. 
08Bisa ButlerButler assigns an identity to her subjects through quilted portraits that incorporate a variety of fibers, including silk, cotton, West African wax, and kente cloth. Using the National Archives as a reference, she has transformed Depression-era images of Black people into eruptions of color with regal charm, fighting aesthetic narratives that erase Black joy. 
09Ashley JamesJames became the first full-time curator at the Guggenheim in 2019 when she signed on to serve as the Associate Curator of Contemporary Art. She also curated the celebrated exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power during her time at the Brooklyn Museum. Her research and writing has appeared in essay collections and books. 
10Dawn OkoroOkoro is a Nigerian-American artist who elevates fashion illustration traditions to combat misogynoir and deconstruct sexting culture. 
11Kelli MorganMorgan serves as Associate Curator of American art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art Galleries at Newfields where she uses her background in museum studies and Afro-American studies and public history to critically examine the role of race in American art and visual culture. 
12Dr.Brittany WebbDr. Webb was named the first Evelyn and Will Kaplan Curator of Twentieth-Century Art and the John Rhoden Collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2020. She uses her anthropological expertise to add the appropriate context to exhibitions and promote the institution’s mission of “celebrate and investigate the stories of American art.” 
13Debra CartwrightCartwright’s affectionate oil paintings expose the delicate beauty of Black women’s quiet moments. 
14Denise MurrellMurrell is the Associate Curator of Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She curated the New York exhibition of Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today which centered on the value of the Black female form in visual arts from abolition era Europe to present-day United States. 
TOPICS: art curators black artists Lorna Simpson
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