People ‘Most Black Film Isn’t Allowed to Be Ambiguous’: How Garrett Bradley’s Quiet Documentaries Found a Rapt Audience in the Art World The artist was awarded best director at Sundance and has a solo show on view now at MoMA. By Melissa Smith, Jan 13, 2021
Analysis Flush With New Success, Black Art Stars Are Reinvesting Their Windfalls in the Next Generation in Ways That Could Permanently Reshape the Art World From Detroit to New Haven to Dakar, residencies established by Black artists are training artists of color in a way that art schools can't. By Melissa Smith, Oct 5, 2020
People The New Innovators: How ArtNoir’s Larry Ossei-Mensah Went From a Bronx-Born Art-World Outsider to the Ultimate Insider "The first couple years I went to Basel I was staying in the hostel," Ossei-Mensah says. By Melissa Smith, Sep 30, 2020
Art World Responding to Widespread Demands, Museums Are Acquiring More Works by Artists of Color. But How They Do So Matters More Than Ever Artists and cultural producers say museums need to collect and exhibit works with more respect and care. By Melissa Smith, Sep 2, 2020
People Meet the Black Women Working to Transform the Art Scenes in Three Cities Deemed Least Hospitable to Black Women CityLab ranked Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit among the least livable cities for Black women. Here's what it's like to work in the arts there as a Black woman. By Melissa Smith, Jul 9, 2020
Exhibitions The Cancellation of Shaun Leonardo’s Museum Show Sparked an Uproar. Now, the Activists Who Wanted It Gone Tell Their Side of the Story Samaria Rice has issued a cease and desist letter to the artist to prevent him from using her son's image in his work. By Melissa Smith, Jul 7, 2020
People Legendary Black Panther Artist Emory Douglas on How Digital Media Can Be Harnessed to Make Protest Art Far More Effective Than Ever We spoke to the artist about art, protest, and why his work is gaining belated canonization. By Melissa Smith, Jun 30, 2020
Art World Crystal Bridges Made Arkansas a Hub for American Art. Can a New Offshoot Make It a Destination for Contemporary Work, Too? Nimble and ambitious, the Momentary aims to bring fresh creative energy to a repurposed Kraft plant. By Melissa Smith, Feb 13, 2020
People ‘We Had to Do It For Ourselves’: Legendary Gallerist and Artist Suzanne Jackson on Why the Art World Has Never Gotten Her Story Right Ahead of the artist's first New York solo show, at Ortuzar Projects, she speaks to Artnet News about her newfound acclaim. By Melissa Smith, Nov 20, 2019
People Here’s How the Artist Dread Scott Pulled Off an Epic Reenactment of the Largest Slave Rebellion in American History The artist Dread Scott recruited hundreds of performers to stage a two-day reenactment of this forgotten event in America's history. By Melissa Smith, Nov 12, 2019
On View ‘We Have to Rethink the Categories’: Curators, Scholars, and Artists Discuss MoMA’s Attempt to Open Up the Art Historical Canon "Museums are like huge ocean liners," says the artist Fred Wilson. "They turn slowly." By Melissa Smith, Oct 18, 2019
Analysis The Studio Museum Residency Has Shaped the World’s Understanding of Black Contemporary Art. That’s a Lot of Responsibility The influential residency program's latest cohort suggests a shift in focus for the institution. That could have big implications. By Melissa Smith, Sep 3, 2019
Art World ‘You Start the Game Tired’: What It’s Like to Be One of the Few Black Students at an Elite Art School At a time when work by some black artists is more in demand than ever, life at the academy remains riddled with obstacles. By Melissa Smith, Jun 27, 2019
Analysis Young Black Artists Are More in Demand Than Ever—But the Art World Is Burning Them Out Artists describe the often invisible labor they take on to make it in an art world not built to accommodate them. By Melissa Smith, Apr 29, 2019
