Contemporary Art

1052

Meer, 2026

"I dream I cross the river in one stride" brings together the work of Clémence Gbonon, Brittney Leeanne Williams, and Autumn Wallace in an exhibition inspired by Lorraine O’Grady’s landmark essay Olympia’s Maid: Reclaiming Black Female Subjectivity. Presented at Mariane Ibrahim, the exhibition explores Black female subjectivity beyond inherited binaries, embracing complexity, embodiment, vulnerability, and self-definition. Through painting and sculpture, the artists create images that are self-authored, expansive, and resistant to fixed categories, extending O’Grady’s enduring influence on contemporary art and feminist discourse.

Black feminism Frantz Fanon black female subjectivity sculpture The Wretched of the Earth painting Contemporary Painting Mariane Ibrahim Chicago Art Scene feminist art Contemporary Art Olympia's Maid group exhibition identity Clémence Gbonon representation Autumn Wallace Black Contemporary Art Brittney Leeanne Williams Lorraine O'Grady Legacy and Influence black women artists I dream I cross the river in one stride

Read MoreDownload PDF

Chicago Reader, 2026

Reviewing After O'Grady at Mariane Ibrahim, Rachel Dukes examines how three contemporary artists—Autumn Wallace, Brittney Leeanne Williams, and Clémence Gbonon—extend the legacy of Lorraine O'Grady’s influential essay Olympia’s Maid: Reclaiming Black Female Subjectivity. Through painting and sculpture, the exhibition explores Black women’s subjectivity beyond limiting binaries, emphasizing embodiment, movement, spirituality, and liberation. The exhibition demonstrates the continuing relevance of O'Grady’s ideas for contemporary artistic practice.

Legacy and Influence black female subjectivity sculpture painting Mariane Ibrahim feminist art Contemporary Art Olympia's Maid After O'Grady identity Rachel Dukes representation Clémence Gbonon Black Contemporary Art Autumn Wallace Lorraine O'Grady Brittney Leeanne Williams black women artists Exhibition Review Black feminism

Read MoreDownload PDF

Los Angeles Times, 2026

A feature on legendary Los Angeles collector Eileen Harris Norton and her lasting impact on the art world. For more than five decades, Norton championed women artists, artists of color, and Southern California artists long before they received widespread institutional recognition. The article coincides with the exhibition Destiny Is a Rose: The Eileen Harris Norton Collection at Hauser & Wirth, showcasing more than 80 works from her influential collection and highlighting her role in reshaping museum collecting practices across the United States.

Hauser & Wirth Art Collecting Los Angeles Art Art + Practice Artists of Color Southern California Art art history Private Collections women artists Museum Collections Eileen Harris Norton Art Patronage Contemporary Art Tara Anne Dalbow Destiny Is a Rose The Los Angeles Times

Read MoreDownload PDF

The New York Times, 2026

In this New York Times overview of performance art's history, curator Klaus Biesenbach, artist Martha Wilson, and historian RoseLee Goldberg reflect on the challenges of defining the medium. The timeline highlights pivotal moments from the early 20th century to the present, including Lorraine O’Grady’s groundbreaking 1980 performances as Mlle. Bourgeoise Noire, which challenged exclusion and inequality within the art world.

feminist art Klaus Biesenbach performance art Museum of Modern Art art history Performance Studies Lorraine O'Grady Martha Wilson The New York Times Black artists Contemporary Art Art Criticism Julia Halperin Mlle Bourgeoise Noire RoseLee Goldberg

Read MoreDownload PDF

4Columns, 2025

ECHO DELAY REVERB: American Art, Francophone Thought at the Palais de Tokyo traces how ideas associated with “French Theory”—from Barthes and Derrida to Foucault—have subtly shaped American art. Curated by Naomi Beckwith and collaborators, the exhibition shows how these concepts reverberated across studios and cultural spaces, appearing less as direct illustrations of theory and more as shifting echoes that artists absorbed, transformed, and set into motion.

Francophone Thought French Theory Naomi Beckwith poststructuralism institutional critique Palais de Tokyo Contemporary Art American Art ECHO DELAY REVERB

Read MoreDownload PDF

Gagosian Quarterly, 2025

Last December, the world lost the fearless and trailblazing artist and writer Lorraine O’Grady. Working across forms, she challenged conventions, celebrated beauty, and altered the cultural landscape. Here, DK Nnuro considers her work through the lens of translation and transcreation.

Black Modernism Art History Rewritten Art Is... conceptual art Black feminist art Transcreation Contemporary Art Art Criticism Translation Studies Cultural Memory

Read MoreDownload PDF

Legacy, 2024

Lorraine O’Grady was a conceptual artist and cultural critic whose work explored race, identity, and representation through multimedia and performance. Best known for works such as Art Is … and her persona Mlle Bourgeoise Noire, she challenged institutional racism and expanded ideas about who art is for.

conceptual art feminist art performance art institutional critique Contemporary Art Black identity race and representation Mlle Bourgeoise Noire Art Is...

Read MoreDownload PDF

PBS News Hour, 2024

Lorraine O’Grady reflects on a decades-long career challenging racism and exclusion in the art world, as she presents her first museum retrospective at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. Nearly 50 years into her practice, her recognition marks a long-overdue moment for an artist whose influence has steadily reshaped cultural discourse.

Black artists Davis Museum racism Contemporary Art art world cultural criticism Legacy conceptual art feminist art Lorraine O'Grady Wellesley College retrospective

Read MoreDownload PDF

Artforum, 2023

A wave of high-profile gallery changes saw Lorraine O’Grady, Carol Bove, and Sonia Boyce switch representation across the US and UK. O’Grady moved from Alexander Gray Associates to Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, while Bove joined Gagosian and Boyce signed with Hauser & Wirth, reflecting shifts among major contemporary artists and galleries.

gallery changes Venice Biennale Mariane Ibrahim Gallery Artnews Contemporary Art Hauser & Wirth Carol Bove Sonia Boyce gallery representation Alexander Gray Associates Gagosian Lorraine O'Grady artist representation art market

Read MoreDownload PDF

The Guardian, 2022

In her 1983 performance Art Is …, Lorraine O’Grady transformed Harlem’s African American Day Parade into a participatory artwork, inviting spectators to pose within gilded frames. The resulting images—especially Girlfriends Times Two—radiate joy and belonging, asserting that art is for everyone while challenging exclusion in the avant-garde.

Girlfriends Times Two feminism participatory art inclusion Katy Hessel Art Is... photography performance art African-American Day Parade Harlem Contemporary Art Black art

Read MoreDownload PDF

The New York Times, 2018

In his review of Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power at the Brooklyn Museum, Holland Cotter examines how Black artists responded to racism, civil rights struggles, and questions of identity through politically engaged art. The exhibition highlights more than 60 artists whose work challenged social structures and redefined the role of art in public life.

Soul of a Nation Contemporary Art Black art Black Power movement African American artists race and representation political art civil rights movement activism identity Brooklyn Museum Holland Cotter

Read MoreDownload PDF