Art Fix Friday: July 3, 2020

Blog Category:  Art Fix Friday
A black-and-white photograph of a light-skinned adult woman holding a newspaper with news about World War II. She wears a coat and her short, curly hair is caught in the wind.

Multidisciplinary artist Simone Leigh, whose work explores and challenges societal notions of Black femme identity, has released a limited-edition bronze sculpture, Sentinel IV (2020). All proceeds will benefit the racial justice organization Color of Change.

In the right image, a black sculpture rests on a white podium. It is the slender, stretched figure of a woman, with smooth hips, protruding breasts and a concave circular disc in the place of the head. In the left image, a dark-skinned woman with shoulder/length dreadlocks smiles calmly in a black-and-white portrait.
Left to right: Simone Leigh, Sentinel IV, 2020; Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth and the artist; © Simone Leigh | Portrait of Simone Leigh; Courtesy Hauser & Wirth and the artist; © Simone Leigh

Rashad Robinson, Color of Change president, says of the partnership: “Simone’s work makes visible and palpable the subjectivity of Black women, whose experiences and leadership have always been central to struggles for liberation nationally and globally.”

Front-Page Femmes

Shana Condill (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) reflects on the National Gallery of Art’s first exhibited artwork by an Indigenous artist: I See Red: Target (1992) by Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes).

The Great Women Artists podcast interviews painter and performance artist Cassi Namoda.

For the centennial of the 19th Amendment, Deborah Willis brings together the work of 11 Black women artists who “honor the historical moment through contemporary reimaginings.”

Brightest Young Things talks to Caryn Coleman, founder of The Future of Film is Female, about her work in the film industry.

Hyperallergic discusses the essential contributions of sculptors Jiha Moon and Stephanie H. Shih to the genre of American ceramics.

The New York Times profiles Rosie Lee Tompkins, whose vibrant quilts provide “evidence of the towering African American achievements that permeate the culture of this country.”

A large quilt comprises a wide array of different squares. Elements of the American flag appear in multiple places; a kitschy image of Jesus appears conspicuously in a bottom square; elsewhere, geometric and floral patterns mix with an overall warm but dramatic color scheme.
A quilt by Rosie Lee Tompkins includes everyday consumer objects such as the American flag, dishtowels, and a tapestry of Jesus; Courtesy UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Eli Leon Bequest; Photo by Justin T. Gellerson for The New York Times

ZORA interviews production designer Ina Mayhew about her work for Respect, the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic.

The New York Times Magazine asks 15 queer artists of color to speak to the stories and experiences behind their work. Among those featured are Jennifer Packer, Sable Elyse Smith, Christina Quarles, Nina Chanel Abney, and Nikita Gale.

NME interviews punk music duo Nova Twins about racism in rock and opening doors for others.

The New Yorker discusses the “cultivated vulnerability” that permeates the styles, narratives, and themes of works by fiction writer Joyce Carol Oates.

ARTFIXdaily features the women artists—including Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Wendy Red Star, and Deborah Kass—acquired by the Baltimore Museum of Art as part of its 2020 Vision initiative.

Arts ATL profiles dancer Kiara Felder, who shares her experiences with racism at the Atlanta Ballet.

Shows We Want to See—Online Edition

Google Arts and Culture and the Johannesburg Art Gallery present The Evidence of Things Not Seen: Performing gendered and queer identities. The exhibition includes works by Mary Sibande, Nandipha Mntambo, Gabrielle Goliath, Tracey Rose, Belinda (Billie) Zangewa, and Zanele Muholi.

A dark-skinned woman wearing a white, skin-fitting bullfighter’s suit flourishes a red cloth in an empty wooden stadium. A bright blue sky with wispy clouds stretches above her; the photograph is taken in harsh daylight, and she casts a dark shadow behind her.
Nandipha Mntambo, Praça de Touros III, 2009; photographic print; Courtesy Johannesburg Art Gallery; © Nandipha Mntambo

Blum & Poe Gallery, in collaboration with Pace Galleries and Mendes Wood DM, presents Broadcasts: Sonia Gomes’s Life Doesn’t Frighten Me. The exhibition coincides with the announcement that Blum & Poe and Pace Galleries will now represent the Brazilian sculptor. Gomes says of her practice: “My work is Black, it is feminine, and it is marginal.”

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