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Artist a Day: Samuel Levi Jones in Sidelined
This post is about as close as I’m going to get to the Superbowl this year. At Galerie Lelong in New York, artist Samuel Levi Jones has curated a group show called Sidelined that interrogates power, how it manifests itself in sports and specifically in sport-related protest. Inspired by the NFL protests during the national…
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Artist a Day: Gary Simmons
I first saw Gary Simmons’s work in the magnificent lobby of CAAM last year. The mural titled, Fade to Black is an homage to classic silent films that featured all-black casts. These films were necessary representations that were created to counter the racist depictions of African-Americans in propaganda films like Birth of a…
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Artist a Day: Jack Whitten
“There’s no destination, there’s only the journey.” Jack Whitten came of age in the South and was involved in the Civil Rights movement while he was a student at Tuskegee and Southern University. After a demonstration in Baton Rouge left an indelible mark on his psyche, Whitten left Louisiana to attend Cooper Union in New…
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Artist a Day 2018: Mapping Midpoints
It’s February and the Culture Shock Art Artist a Day challenge is back for its 4th year! I’m excited to bring you some incredible artists whose work I will share every day this month. Some posts will include narrative bios of the artists, while in other posts I will let the art speak for itself.…
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The Art that Helped Me Survive 2017
Look, I know it’s dramatic, but 2017 was tough and I’m not even going to try to sugar coat it. Despite this, I saw some incredible work that helped me make some sense of the world we find ourselves in today. Here are 9 highlights: 1. Kenyatta Hinkle, The Evanesced @ CAAM The Evanesced at CAAM…
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Angels in Alabama
When the results of Alabama’s special elections came in on Tuesday evening, I could feel the nation collectively breathe a sigh of relief, and for a brief moment, our moral compass recalibrated itself. Tuesday should be a reminder to all of us that every vote counts. Most importantly, black women not only showed up to the polls,…
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New Orleans Unfolds as the Canvas for Prospect.4
Prospect.4 officially kicked off Saturday, November 18 and the roster of international artists in the city-wide triennial is chock full of familiar and new talent whose work I’ve long admired. I was able to get a digital copy of the event’s catalog and after sampling the work from some of the artists chosen for the…
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Booths Without Borders at DesignerCon 2017
For pop culture enthusiasts, there’s an unlimited number of conventions where you can connect with your tribe. There are gamer cons, comic cons, anime cons, dragon cons, quilt cons and even a con that celebrates inclusion. I love spaces where art and kitsch collide and for the past 10 years, DesignerCon has become one of…
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Radical Women Take Center Stage in Two Important L.A. Exhibitions
Two exhibitions at the Hammer Museum and CAAM in Los Angeles have taught me one important thing: radical women get things done. If you silence them, they find a way to speak, if you hide them, they will be seen, and if you ignore their work, they will make their presence known. History has an…
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Artists Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley to Paint Obama Portraits
It’s a good week for contemporary artists of color. While the MacArthur Fellowship announcements kept me buoyed all week, the news that the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery announcement was extra special. Michelle and Barack Obama have chosen Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley to paint their respective portraits which will be debuted by…
Colony Little, Culture Shock Art 