New Release
Black Art
In the Absence of Light
Premiering February 9 on HBO, Black Art: In the Absence of Light provides an illuminating introduction to some of the foremost Black visual artists working today. Directed by Sam Pollard, the documentary shines a light on the extraordinary impact of David Driskell’s landmark 1976 exhibition, Two Centuries of Black American Art, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Interweaving insights and context from curators and art historians, as well as interviews with a new generation of Black artists—including Theaster Gates, Kerry James Marshall, Faith Ringgold, Amy Sherald, and Carrie Mae Weems—the film offers a look at the contributions of Black American artists in today’s contemporary art world.
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Theaster Gates in Black Art: In the Absence of Light (2021), directed by Sam Pollard. Photo: courtesy HBO
Related News
Visit
Black Artists Retreat 2019
Sonic Imagination
October 11–12, 2019
Park Avenue Armory, New York
www.armoryonpark.org
Theaster Gates will host his renowned Black Artists Retreat for the first time outside of Chicago. This iteration of the retreat, which Gates conceived of as re-creating the kind of public-spirited dialogue that the artist associates with the civil-rights movement of the 1960s, includes a public celebration with roller-skating, DJs, and performers amid an installation of some of the artist’s famous “housebergs”—7-foot-tall sculptural disco balls shaped like icebergs. To attend the event, purchase tickets at www.armoryonpark.org.
Photo: Andre Wagner
Support
Masked
Jenny Saville
Jenny Saville and twenty-three other leading figures in the arts, education, communications, and law were photographed wearing masks for Masked, a portrait series by Joanna Vestey. The limited-edition prints are being sold through March 31, 2021, to raise funds for AT The Bus, a charity that provides art therapy programs to school-age children in Oxfordshire and London out of a refitted double-decker bus. To purchase a print, visit www.atthebus.org.uk.
Joanna Vestey, Jenny Saville RA, December 2020, 2020 © Joanna Vestey
Design
Sarah Sze
Night Vision 20/20
Sarah Sze has created Night Vision 20/20, an immersive mobile app that uses augmented reality to take users, wherever they may be, into a nocturnal dream world. It was developed by the digital agency Cher Ami in conjunction with the artist’s exhibition Night into Day at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris. The visual elements, composed of videos drawn from Sze’s installations, transform the users’ perception of reality through their smartphone screen. Night Vision 20/20 also features a sound piece created by Sze, bringing the user into the artist’s universe and opening the door to a personal and playful exploration of her art. To download the free app, visit the App Store or Google Play Store.
View with Sarah Sze’s augmented reality app Night Vision 20/20
Work in Progress
Adriana Varejão: In the Studio
Join Adriana Varejão at her studio in Rio de Janeiro as she prepares for her upcoming exhibition at Gagosian in New York. She speaks about the inspirations for her “tile” paintings, from Portuguese azulejos to the Brazilian Baroque to the Talavera ceramic tradition of Mexico, and reveals for the first time her unique process for creating these works.
Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Spring 2021
The Spring 2021 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Gerhard Richter’s Helen (1963) on its cover.
In Conversation
Sir David Adjaye OBE and Zoë Ryan
Architect David Adjaye discusses his archival project Adjaye Africa Architecture: A Photographic Survey of Metropolitan Architecture with Zoë Ryan, Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania. For this decade-long project, published in seven volumes, Adjaye traveled to the capital city of every major African country to photograph the continent’s built environment.
Artist to Artist: Isaac Julien and Meleko Mokgosi
This video features a dialogue between artists Isaac Julien and Meleko Mokgosi, moderated by Zoé Whitley, director of Chisenhale Gallery, London, and presented by Gagosian in partnership with the Decolonising Arts Institute of the University of the Arts London (UAL). The two artists discuss narrative and montage strategies in their respective practices as filmmaker and painter.
The Bigger Picture
Exalt: Youth Justice Can’t Stop
As 2020 came to a close, Nathaniel Mary Quinn spoke with Gisele Castro, executive director of exalt, a New York City nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of court-involved youth by providing a path to success through effective educational engagement. Quinn is a former educator at exalt and now serves as a member of the organization’s board.
Artist to Artist: Edmund de Waal and Theaster Gates
Join the artists for an extended conversation about their most recent exhibitions, their forebears in the world of ceramics, and the key role that history plays in their practices.
In Conversation
Meleko Mokgosi and Louise Neri
On the occasion of Meleko Mokgosi’s recent exhibition Democratic Intuition, the artist speaks with Louise Neri about notions of pedagogy, the nation state, and value systems wrapped up in his visual epic.
The Iconoclasts: Part 1
The first installment of a four-part story cycle by Anne Boyer.
Leaders in the Arts: Italy Edition
We invited Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev to select two outstanding arts professionals to join her in a conversation about their career trajectories, current projects, and goals for the future.
Fashion and Art: Hank Willis Thomas and Chitose Abe
Artist Hank Willis Thomas and Chitose Abe, the creative director and founder of Sacai, speak with the Quarterly’s Wyatt Allgeier about their recent collaboration.
Venetian Heritage
Venetian Heritage, a philanthropic organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of Venice’s cultural treasures, has pursued its mission for two decades. Here, the architect Peter Marino, the organization’s chairman, joins Toto Bergamo Rossi, director of the Venice office, to tell Gagosian director Jason Ysenburg about the history and future of the organization and its program for the 2019 Venice Biennale.
Studio Peregalli
Art historian and curator Sergio Risaliti speaks with Roberto Peregalli and Laura Sartori Rimini, the duo behind the interior design firm Studio Peregalli, about their philosophical approach to design, the cinematic quality of their rooms, and the publication of their latest monograph, Grand Tour: The Worldly Projects of Studio Peregalli.