About Culture Shock Art

Founder: Colony Little

Culture Shock Art is a blog dedicated to art, music, and design. As a freelance writer covering contemporary art, my goal is to amplify the voices of Black artists and artists of color. I am a 2020 recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant which supports contemporary arts writing and criticism.

My work is featured in contemporary art and lifestyle publications including Artnet News, ARTnews, Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, Arts.Black, W Magazine, and Walter Magazine. 

When I’m not writing, I’m in museums, exploring my new home of Raleigh, NC, or drinking coffee…

I drink a lot of coffee.

For inquiries, please contact me at cshockart [at] gmail [dot] com

Published Writing:

Building Faith in the Future Part 2: Five Women of the Black Arts Movement in Los Angeles. ARTnews, July 11, 2023

Building Faith in the Future Part I: The Rise of the Black Arts Movement in California. ARTnews, July 4, 2023

A Welcome Home in Liberation Station. Walter Magazine, June 19, 2023.

Hidden Treasures: WALTER goes behind the scenes as PBS’s ANTIQUES ROADSHOW stops at the NCMA in Raleigh to film its 28th season. Walter Magazine, May 18, 2023

The (Afro) Future is Female: Ruth E. Carter at the NCMA. Walter Magazine, May 18, 2023

Home Economics: Precious Lovell’s Ex-Domestication, Walter Magazine, April 13, 2023

The Runaway: Muralist and Graphic Designer Gabe Eng-Goetz, Walter Magazine, February, 2023

For Generations, African American Women Have Used Quilting as a Powerful Tool of Survival, Resistance, and Artistic Expression, ARTnews, November 23, 2022

A Stitch in Time: Textile Artist Precious Lovell, Walter Magazine, September 30, 2022

Interview with Genevieve Gaignard, Carla, Issue 29, August, 2022

Going Back to the Ditch With Lonnie Holley, Hyperallergic, August 2, 2022

World of Wonder: Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Walter Magazine, August, 2022

Rooted in Clay: Laura Casas Shapes Her World, Walter Magazine, July, 2022

Sisterhood in Bloom: Give Black Raleigh Her Flowers, Walter Magazine, May 24, 2022

Glow in the Dark: Nate Sheaffer’s Career of Illumination, Walter Magazine, March, 2022

Traumas recent and historic are aired and treated in museum showcase of North Carolina artists, The Art Newspaper, February 25, 2022

A Musician’s Introspective Journey Through the Lush Appalachian Landscape, Hyperallergic, February 24, 2022

“It’s just people living their lives”: Painter Greg Breda captures moments of quiet transformation in Black cinema, The Art Newspaper, January 14, 2022

Off the Grid: Artist Ann Roth, Walter Magazine, January 1, 2022

The Paper Project, Walter Magazine, December 1, 2021

Poetic Physics: Nicola Vassell Brings Fred Eversley and Alteronce Gumby’s Science-Based Artworks to Miami, Art News, November 30, 2021

The Unsung History of Designer Patrick Kelly, W Magazine, October 20, 2021

Earth Spirit: A Lush Sanctuary in Cary, Walter Magazine October 1, 2021

For Inspiration, Betye Saar Turns to Her Doll Collection, Hyperallergic, September 28, 2021

Painting the Town: Muralist Taylor White, Walter Magazine, August 1, 2021

Torch Bearer: The Legacy of Anna Cooper, Walter Magazine, August 1, 2021

Welcome to Black Main Street, Walter Magazine, June 1, 2021.

Through Her Lens: Kennedi Carter’s Intimate Portraits, Walter Magazine, May 28, 2021.

Three exhibitions to see in New York this weekend, The Art Newspaper, May 21, 2021.

‘Unity is survival’: former Pace director Nicola Vassell to open a gallery in New York, The Art Newspaper, May 19, 2021

Deborah Roberts’s Intricate and Thoughtful Depictions of Black Childhood, Hyperallergic, May 3, 2021

Boylan Beauty: An Exclusive Tour of Heights House, Raleigh’s Newest Boutique Hotel, Walter Magazine, May 1, 2021

Filmmakers Team Up With SF Public Defenders to Broadcast Stories of Injustice, Hyperallergic, February 19, 2021

The Art of the Pivot: Caitlin Cary’s Multifaceted Career, Walter Magazine, December 29, 2020

Uncharted Territory: Lump Gallery at 25 Years, Walter Magazine, November 1, 2020

“It Came Down to What I Could Make at My Kitchen Table”: Amy Sherald on Experimenting with a New Medium for the First Time in Decades, Artnet News, October 13, 2020.

Love and Light at Raleigh Union Station, Walter Magazine, October 2, 2020

Emma Amos and the Profound Role of Memory in Her Paintings. Hyperallergic, August 25, 2020.

Kennedi Carter’s Opulent Portraits of Black Southerners. Hyperallergic, August 6, 2020

Resistance and Renewal: Plywood Murals in Raleigh. Walter Magazine, July 31, 2020

How a Vital Art Education Program for People With Alzheimer’s Successfully Moved Online. Hyperallergic, June 1, 2020.

The Central American Diaspora and Stories of Coming of Age. Hyperallergic February 20, 2020. 

21C’s The Future is Female Exhibit Showcases 50 Contemporary Artists, Walter Magazine, February 20, 2020.

Confronting Discomfort: VAE Exhibit Reframes Disability, Walter Magazine, January 13, 2020

The Vibrant Artistry and Camaraderie of Lowrider Culture, Hyperallergic, December 24, 2019

Best of 2019: Our Top 20 Los Angeles Art Shows, Hyperallergic, December 11, 2019

Betye Saar’s Never-Before-Seen Sketchbooks Offer Deep Insights, Hyperallergic, September 23, 2019

Architect Philip Freelon’s Legacy of Community Engagement and Inclusion, Hyperallergic, July 10, 2019

Ernie Barnes’s Iconic Chronicle of His Southern Roots and Sports, Hyperallergic, July 4, 2019

How Photography and Jazz Merged to Forge the “Black is Beautiful” Movement, Hyperallergic, April 23, 2019

At the Broad Museum, the Groundbreaking “Soul of a Nation” Puts a Refreshed Focus on the Struggles of Black Artists in L.A., Artnet News, April 11, 2019

The Studio Museum Conceives It’s Future in a Traveling Exhibition. Hyperallergic, March 6, 2019

Trenton Doyle Hancock at Shulamit Nazarian. Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, (CARLA), Issue 15, Spring 2019

In the White Album, Arthur Jafa Invents a New Language to Take on the Clichés of Empathy, Artnet News, January 25, 2019

Barry Jenkins and Kahlil Joseph Reimagine Roy DeCarava’s Admiring Vision of Harlem, Hyperallergic, December 27, 2018

Pay Attention to the Loaded Details in Artist Robert Pruitt’s Powerful Images of Devotion, Artnet News, October 12, 2018

Who Should Take Over as Director of MoMA PS1? 5 Leading Art-World Figures Tell Us Who They’d Pick, Artnet News, August 13, 2018

Jack Whitten’s Newly Published Journals Reveal a Long, Painful Road to Recognition, Artnet News, August 6, 2018

How Senga Nengudi’s ‘Performance Objects’ Stretched Sculpture Into New Forms—and How She’s Still Pressing the Limits Today. Artnet News, July 3, 2018.

3 Artists Shaking Up the Way We See the City in the Hammer’s Bold New ‘Made in L.A.’ Biennial. Artnet News, June 12, 2018. 

Maren Hassinger’s Poetic Gestures for Dealing with the Painful Past and Present, Hyperallergic, May 17, 2018

Beyond Banksy: This Massive L.A. Exhibition Dramatically Expands the Story of Graffiti, Artnet News, May 16, 2018

Shinique Smith Adds New Layers to Her Fabric Work With a Show that Doubles as a Collection for L.A.’s Homeless, Artnet News, April 18, 2018

Accidental Records, Ellen Gallagher at Hauser & Wirth, Art Practical, January 30, 2018

Imagining the Portraits of African-American Women, Hyperallergic, April 25, 2017

Shotgun Review, Hammer Projects: Kevin Beasley, Daily Serving, March 17, 2017

Hammer Projects: Simone Leigh, Arts.Black, October, 2016

Shotgun Review, Hammer Projects: Simone Leigh, Daily Serving, October 7, 2016

Collector Scoop: Colony Little, Crusade for Art, July 21, 2016

The Provocation of Ambiguity and Agency, Arts.Black, June, 2016