News

By Makeda Easter for Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will honor contemporary artists Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley and filmmaker Steven Spielberg at its 2021 Art + Film Gala, the museum is expected to announce Wednesday. As LACMA’s premier fundraiser, the 10th annual event on Nov. 6 will bring together art and fashion figures, civic leaders and celebrities. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s in-person gala was canceled and the museum did not honor any new artists or filmmakers during an intimate virtual gathering. The 2019 gala honoring assemblage artist Betye Saar and “Roma” writer-director Alfonso Cuarón raised more than $4.6 million for the museum.

UN Women, the agency of the United Nations dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment, will host the first all-Black, all-women global selling exhibition and auction titled “A Force for Change”, with proceeds benefiting Black women across the world and the participating artists. The exhibition includes 26 works by prominent and emerging female artists of African descent to recognize and elevate awareness of the transformative power of Black women’s art in social justice movements, and to support UN Women’s nascent global Black Women’s Programme. Works by artists Cinthia Sifa Mulanga, Tschabalala Self, Sungi Mlengeya, Wangari Mathenge, Zanele Muholi, and Selly Rabe Kane are included, among many others. 

This summer the Art Institute of Chicago welcomes two acclaimed portraits to its galleries: Kehinde Wiley’s painting of President Barack Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama. Chicago is the first stop for the Obama portraits as part of a five-city tour organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. As the family’s longtime home, Chicago has a unique connection to the Obamas, as does the Art Institute. Michelle Obama recalls visiting frequently with her family when she was growing up on the South Side, and the museum was also the site of the couple’s first date.

Since 2018, “Atlas” brings together works from Collezione Prada in Torre's six floors, in the form of an exhibition project. Starting June 17, 2021, the fourth floor is reopening to the public with an unprecedented dialogue between the works by Goshka Macuga and an installation by Betye Saar. Using various juxtapositions and combinations between different artists, "Atlas" represents a possible mapping on the ideas and visions that guided the shaping of the collection and the collaborations with artists that contributed to the activities of Fondazione Prada.