When museums and galleries were closed for a significant part of 2020, a series of new art books highlighting Black artists provided valuable insights and offered a deep dive into the work of emerging and established artists. Culture Type’s picks include monographs of Noah Davis, Ming Smith, and Bisa Butler, as well as forthcoming projects from curator Okwui Enwezor. This selection represents some of the positive outcomes from a challenging year. Here are the best Black art books of 2020:
“Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop,” Edited by Sarah Eckhardt, with a foreword by Alex Nyerges, preface by Deborah Willis, and contributions from Erina Duganne, Romi Crawford, John Edwin Mason, Bill Gaskins, and Sharayah Cochran (Duke University Press Books, 260 pages). | Published Feb. 14, 2020
1. “Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop”
This catalog was published to coincide with the exhibition of the same name. It offers a comprehensive archive of the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of Black photographers founded in 1963. The publication covers the first two decades with a focus on Louis Draper and 14 early members, including Ming Smith, the first woman to join the group. It includes reproductions of exhibition posters, group photos from Kamoinge’s annual dinners, hand-written notes and meeting minutes, and The Black Photographer’s Annual. The volume also features a selection of essays and individual black-and-white photographs by the artists.
“Mark Bradford: End Papers,” by Michael Auping (Prestel, 124 pages). | Published Feb. 26, 2020
2. “Mark Bradford: End Papers”
This book provides insight into Mark Bradford’s practice, particularly his use of end papers to create abstract works. It offers a conversation between Mark Bradford and curator Michael Auping, shedding light on the artist’s early influences and the practical and aesthetic benefits of his chosen materials.
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The lavishly illustrated catalog is affiliated with “Mark Bradford: End Papers,” an exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas.
3. “Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition”
The galleries of The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., are alive with interactions across cultures, generations, and international borders—bringing African American artists together with European modernists. Engagements between Mickalene Thomas and Edouard Manet; and among William H. Johnson, Faith Ringgold, and Mequitta Ahuja and Pablo Picasso; and Emma Amos, Janet Taylor Pickett, and Hank Willis Thomas and Henri Matisse, are on view. Works by Lois Mailou Jones and John Edmonds give a nod to Man Ray. Works by Hale Woodruff and Wangechi Mutu reference Paul Cezanne and Constantin Brancusi, respectively. These connections and influences are documented in this volume, published to accompany “Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition.” Adrienne L. Childs edited the catalog and guest curated the exhibition. She is the first Black person to organize an exhibition at the Phillips Collection. Childs authored three essays in the fully illustrated volume and is also in conversation with Valerie Cassel Oliver about some of the Black artists represented in the show who are focused on abstraction, including Alma Thomas, Jennie C. Jones, Moe Brooker, Felrath Hines, and Leonardo Drew.
“Many African American artists mine the master narratives of art history to find inspiration, pose questions, mount a critique, or claim a place of their own. The push and pull of this relationship has engendered a distinct tradition in black diasporic practice.” — Adrienne L. Childs
4. “Jordan Casteel: Within Reach”
Jordan Casteel paints portraits that reveal the complexity and humanity of her subjects. This catalog was published to accompany “Jordan Casteel: Within Reach” at the New Museum, her first solo museum exhibition in New York. The large-format volume features page-after-page of full-color images of individual works in the show—portraits of young Black men with radiantly colored skin in hues of blue, violet, and green, portraits of people she’s met in Harlem, and more recent portraits of her students at Rutgers University. Casteel shifted the focus of her portraiture when she was an artist-in-residence (AIR) at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2015-16), finding inspiration in representing people from the neighborhood. Both Massimiliano Gioni, exhibition curator and artistic director of the New Museum, and Studio Museum Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden engage in conversations with the artist. Former Studio Museum curators Lauren Haynes and Amanda Hunt, who oversaw the AIR program during Casteel’s tenure, contribute writings, along with photographer Dawoud Bey. “Harlem, USA,” his first solo exhibition, was presented at the Studio Museum in 1979. Bey’s essay draws on parallels with Casteel’s work: “Having begun my own career as an artist some forty years earlier in the very streets in which she was now engaging the subjects of her work, I was drawn to her commitment to ordinary black people as both subject and source of her social and aesthetic investigations.”
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Samuel Fosso: Autoportrait, Edited by Okwui Enwezor, with a foreword by Artur Walther, introduction by Jean Marc Patras, and contributions by Elvira Dyangani Ose, Yves Chatap, Chika Okeke-Agulu, Quentin Bajac, Claire Staebler, James Merle Thomas, Terry Smith, and Oluremi C. Onabanjo (Steidl/The Walther Collection, New York, 188 pages). | Published Aug. 11, 2020
5. Samuel Fosso: Autoportrait
One of the treasures Okwui Enwezor (1963-2019) left for us, Samuel Fosso: Autoportrait is the first comprehensive monograph of the singular photographer, known since the mid-1970s for his conceptual self portraits. Born in Cameroon, Fosso grew up in Nigeria, and developed his practice in the Central African Republic, where he is based today. The fully illustrated volume features new essays and scholarship contextualizing Fosso’s work and a conversation between the photographer and Enwezor. During the wide-ranging discussion about Fosso’s life and practice, the late curator asked about his “Tati” series, “which played with the ambiguity of gender and sexuality…” Fosso’s various other series have paid homage to his grandfather, a “native doctor” he lived with until he was about age 8; modeled a “70’s Lifestyle”; envisioned a “Black Pope”; depicted historic Black figures, including Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., in “African Spirits”; and addressed geopolitics with “Emperor of Africa,” a series of portraits representing Chairman Mao, the Communist leader and founding father of the People’s Republic of China.
Tyler Mitchell: I Can Make You Feel Good, With contributions by Tyler Mitchell, Isolde Brielmaier, Deborah Willis, and Hans Ulrich Obrist (Prestel, 208 pages). | Published Aug. 25, 2020
6. Tyler Mitchell: I Can Make You Feel Good
A bounty of images all of them full-page bleeds produced on matte finish pages, this publication is all about the pictures—photographs of joy, fun, freedom, fashion, leisure, moments of reflection, and time spent outdoors in the natural world. Complete with an orange ribbon bookmark, the volume is an introduction to the practice of Tyler Mitchell, 25. Published on the occasion of “Tyler Mitchell: I Can Make You Feel Good” at the International Center of Photography in New York, his first U.S. solo show, the volume showcases Mitchell’s focus on the power, presence, and visibility of his subjects. Mitchell grew up in Marietta, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta and is based in Brooklyn, N.Y. He became widely known recently when he photographed Beyoncé for the cover of American Vogue’s September 2018 fall fashion issue, making history as the first Black photographer to create the magazine’s cover. Just about 20 pages of the catalog contain text— highly readable and accessible reflections from Mitchell himself, an interview with the photographer conducted by Hans Ulrich Obrist, and insights from exhibition curator Isolde Brielmaier and Deborah Willis (one of his professors at New York University). Willis said she took note of Mitchell’s artistic and critical eye early on. She wrote: “I was fascinated with his work because I saw how deeply committed he was to understanding images and later changing existing visual narratives about being Black, male, creative, and young.”
“`Noah Davis: “A Beautifully Illustrated Monograph” by Helen Molesworth (David Zwirner Books, 176 pages). | Published Sept. 1, 2020
7. “Noah Davis”
Based on this book, those who knew Noah Davis (1983-2015) agree that he was exceptional: A dedicated, talented painter, visionary institution builder, family and community-focused, wise beyond his years, and enthusiastic about life in general. His painting “Forty Acres and a Unicorn” (2007) is featured on the cover and could easily be a self-portrait. Davis, who died at the age of 32 from a rare form of cancer, co-founded The Underground Museum in Los Angeles with his wife Karon Davis and older brother Kahlil Joseph. The museum’s mission is to exhibit museum-quality art in the Black and Brown LA neighborhood of Arlington Heights. The book, introduced by Molesworth, presents a comprehensive collection of his work, complementing a major presentation at David Zwirner Gallery in New York, curated by Molesworth, with plans for a similar presentation at The Underground Museum. Molesworth conducts interviews with several people in Davis’s community, including Deana Lawson, Thomas Houseago, Daniel Desure, and Henry Taylor, who share their insights on the artist and their relationship with him and his work. The conversations are interspersed with images of Davis’s paintings, including detail and installation views, along with archival photographs documenting the artist’s life. The hardback book is covered with pale blue linen and has page edges gilded in gold.
“He was a smart-ass kid, but a kid that I listened to. I took him more seriously than anybody. I was more attentive to him than anybody. I know a lot of artists. But being around Noah was something totally different.” – Henry Taylor on Noah Davis
“Alison Saar: Of Aether and Earthe” by Irene Tsatsos and Rebecca McGrew, with a preface by Judith Tuch, foreword by Leslie Ito and Victoria Sancho Lobis, and contributions from Evie Shockley, Christina Sharpe, Camille T. Dungy, and Harryette Mullen (Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, 164 pages). | Published Sept. 8, 2020
8. “Alison Saar: Of Aether and Earthe”
This major monograph of Alison Saar explores four decades of work, spanning 1982 to 2020. The volume is published to accompany an exhibition co-organized by the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., and the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, Calif. It includes a conversation between Saar and co-curator Irene Tsatsos. Saar’s extensive body of work is documented in the volume, which is covered in marigold linen. Inside, matte-finish pages feature exceptional photography of her works, including individual images, detail, and installation views. The publication also includes an autobiographical timeline illustrated with family photos, many published for the first time, featuring her mother Betye Saar, sisters Lezley Saar and Stacye Saar, and the artist’s late father Richard Saar.
“Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art,” Edited by Antwaun Sargent, with an introduction by Bernard I. Lumpkin, and contributions from Jessica Bell Brown and Thelma Golden (D.A.P., 256 pages). | Published Sept. 29, 2020
9. “Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art”
“Young, Gifted, and Black: A New Generation of Artists” is a showcase of the ever-expanding contemporary art collection of Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi. The focus of the family collection shifted about a decade ago, placing an emphasis on artists of African descent, particularly emerging young artists such as Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, whose work graces the cover of the book. Lumpkin explains in the introduction that his role as a collector goes beyond acquisition, aiming to support and educate artists in engaging with their communities. The book is fully illustrated and edited by Antwaun Sargent, with essays contributed by Jessica Bell Brown. It also includes a conversation between Lumpkin and Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, where Lumpkin serves as a trustee and member of the acquisitions committee. A significant portion of the book is dedicated to approximately 170 pages showcasing the artists, with brief accompanying writings by a group of curators. Some of the featured artists also share insights about their work. The volume complements a national traveling exhibition that opened in 2019 and is scheduled to travel to several university galleries.
“I wanted to focus on younger artists who were confronting the realities of power, politics, and injustice in their work.” — Bernard I. Lumpiin
“Ming Smith: An Aperture Monograph,” With a foreword by Alan Govenar, and contributions from Emmanuel Iduma, Janet Hill Talbert, M. Neelika Jayawardane, Namwali Serpell, Greg Tate, Arthur Jafa, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Yxta Maya Murray (Aperture, 236 pages). | Published Nov. 10, 2020
10. “Ming Smith: An Aperture Monograph”
Photographer Ming Smith, who was the first female member of the Kamoinge Workshop in New York, is the subject of this much-anticipated monograph. The book provides a comprehensive account of her life and practice over four decades through essays, conversations, and a compelling array of her images, many of them spreads and full-page bleeds.
“Black Futures,” Edited by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham (One World, 544 pages). | Published Dec. 1, 2020
11. “Black Futures”
“Black Futures” reflects on the experience of being Black and alive today. Editors Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham have compiled a vibrant collection of images, screenshots, memes, art, conversations, and writings, including original essays, creating a book that feels current and alive. The content is divided into 10 sections, such as Black Lives Matter, Power, Joy, Justice, Memory, Black is (Still) Beautiful, and Legacy. The book covers topics ranging from self-care, African American names, and barbershops to police murder and Flint water. It incorporates Facebook screenshots from July 2013 when Alicia Garza first mentioned the term Black Lives Matter, as well as works by numerous creators including Nina Chanel Abney, Firelei Báez, Alexandra Bell, and many others. The editors describe the book as a series of guideposts for current and future generations, providing insight into the social, cultural, economic, and ecological revolution of our time. It also addresses the empowerment and disenfranchisement faced by Black communities. Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham state: “Social media has granted Black folks a platform to tell our own stories, but it has also made us subject to a new brand of surveillance and unprecedented co-option.”
“Bisa Butler: Portraits,” Edited by Erica Warren, with a foreword by James Rondeau, and contributions from Michéle Wije, Jordan Carter, Isabella Ko, and Bisa Butler (Art Institute of Chicago, 96 pages). | Published Dec. 8, 2020
12. “Bisa Butler: Portraits,”
This catalog documents “Bisa Butler: Portraits,” the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Kantonah Museum of Art in Westchester County, N.Y.. Bisa Butler’s work reimagines portraiture using brightly colored, patterned textiles to create powerful depictions of her subjects. Inspired by early 20th century black-and-white photography, her portraits include historic figures and interpretations of old family photos. This volume provides detailed backstories for each of the 21 works included in the exhibition, many of them written by Butler herself. The book showcases her ability to reinvent portraiture and her talent in creating layered depictions using textiles.
13. “Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly In League With The Night”
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye depicts compelling portraits of fictitious individuals, created from a blend of discovered imagery and her own imagination. This catalog accompanies the “Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly In League With The Night” exhibition at Tate Britain in London. It is the British artist’s first comprehensive survey, featuring around 80 paintings and multiple works on paper. The catalog is filled with full-color images and includes essays by exhibition co-curators Isabella Maidment and Andrea Schlieker. Yiadom-Boakye, who has expressed “The things I can’t paint, I write, and the things I can’t write, I paint,” contributes with new writing entitled “Five Extracts from A Detective Novel Entitled ‘An Officer Of The Law’ and Some Intermittent Notes On Criminality.” Poet Elizabeth Alexander links Yiadom-Boakye’s paintings to the dark expanses of the ocean, stating, “With any writer or painter of the African diaspora, I think the ocean is somewhere in their work, even if it is not the subject. If a subject or not, the ocean, the middle passage, that blackness is always there, I feel. These paintings are of the ocean in her deep understanding of darkness, danger, mystery and color.”
14. “Elijah Pierce’s America”
This fully illustrated volume was published on the occasion of “Elijah Pierce’s America” at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Elijah Pierce (1892-1984) was a storyteller. Born on a plantation in Baldwyn, Miss., by 1923 he was living in Columbus, Ohio, where he owned a barbershop and was a preacher. In his spare time, he carved wood. For years, it never occurred to him that his creations were art. In their opening essay co-curators Nancy Ireson and Zoé Whitley note that Pierce told a journalist that he “didn’t even know [he] was an ‘artist’ until they told me.” A circa 1933 portrait, “Love (Martin Luther King, Jr.),” covers the exhibition catalog. His wood carvings—elaborate, detailed, and painted—speak to American political and cultural history (the Kennedys, Abraham Lincoln, Lena Horne, Mr. and Mrs. Hank Aaron), sports, the animal kingdom, the quotidian (Girl Scouts, a doll house, the Masons, a layered compote), and gossip (“Three Ways to Send a Message: Telephone, Telegram, Tell-a-Woman,” circa 1941, and “Monday Morning Gossip,” 1934). Made four decades apart, works featuring an individual female subject with her right arm raised high in the air depict the Statue of Liberty (1973) and Harriet Tubman (“Spreading the Light,” 1933). His carvings are also autobiographical and illustrate numerous biblical narratives and religious subjects. Previously presented in museums in the context of folk or self-taught art, this show and catalog reconsider his work in relation to mainstream art histories. The curators wrote: to place Pierce’s carvings in proximity to the Barnes Foundation’s collection—rich in works by the best-known artists of the early twentieth century—is to show the artist in a different light.
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“Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America (from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter),” Edited by Okwui Enwezor, Naomi Beckwith, Massimiliano Gioni, Glenn Ligon, and Mark Nash, with contributions from Judith Butler, Claudia Rankine, Juliet Hooker, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Elizabeth Alexander, Christina Sharpe, and Saidiya Hartman, and a publishing note and afterword by Lisa Phillips (Phaidon Press, 264 pages). | Published Dec. 16, 2020
15. “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America (from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter)”
Before he passed away, Okwui Enwezor was planning a wide-ranging survey of 37 Black contemporary artists focusing on loss and mourning following racial violence. This prescient and timely exhibition was meant to open in October 2020, prior to the Presidential election. Following his death, the organization of “Grief and Grieving: Art and Mourning in America (from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter)” was completed by a team, ultimately delayed to January 2021 due to COVID-19. Enwezor aimed to create a show that responded to racial division in contemporary politics driven by Donald Trump. The exhibition features an intergenerational group of artists such as Terry Adkins, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dawoud Bey, Mark Bradford, Garrett Bradley, Melvin Edwards, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and many others, working across different mediums. Enwezor asked Glenn Ligon to serve as an advisor during the exhibition development, and upon the curator’s death, an advisory team was formed to realize the show Enwezor had envisioned. The fully illustrated catalog includes essays by Ligon, Mark Nash, and Naomi Beckwith, as well as contributions from prominent voices in the national discourse on race and American culture, including Claudia Rankine, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Elizabeth Alexander, Christina Sharpe, and Saidiya Hartman. CT
VIEW MORE See Best Black Art Books of 2020 list on Bookshop
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