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| Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Headless Man Trying to Drink, 2005. LACMA, promised gift of Emily and Teddy Greenspan |
Three years ago LACMA did a show of
"Black American Portraits," some 140 works drawn largely from the collection and introducing numerous acquisitions and promised gifts. Now the museum returns to similar territory with all-new material. Just opened, "Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics" is about half the size of the 2021 show yet global in scope and not limited to portraits. Its 60-some artists work in Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, Canada, and Europe, as well as the U.S. There is a strong contingent of Los Angeles artists, reflecting the city's importance as a center of African-American art.
Most of the objects have been purchased by or gifted to the museum. In its short history LACMA has had mixed success in persuading finicky collectors to donate major artworks and collections. It's a good omen that "Imagining Black Diasporas" draws on so many public-minded donors.
The artists on view include El Anatsui, Edgar Arceneaux, Sanford Biggers, Diedrich Brackens, Mark Bradford, Nick Cave, Patrisse Cullors, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Theaster Gates, Isaac Julien, Deana Lawson, Glenn Ligon, Julie Mehretu, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Wangechi Mutu, Calida Rawles, Yinka Shonibare, Lorna Simpson, Tavares Strachan, Martine Syms, and Kara Walker.
"Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics" is on the second floor of BCAM through Aug. 3, 2025. Dhyandra Lawson curated.
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| Hassan Hajjaj, Caravane, 2011. LACMA, purchased with funds provided by Art of the Middle East: CONTEMPORARY |
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| Installation view, "Imagining Black Diasporas," LACMA |
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| Kara Walker, Fons Americanus, 2019. LACMA, gift of Andy Song |
Fons Americanus is a bronze reduction of
the monumental fountain that Walker created for Tate Modern in 2019. It's a gift of Australian collector Andy Song, who recently joined LACMA's board.
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| Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Daylight Studio, 2022. LACMA, gift of the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Charitable Foundation. © Paul Mpagi Sepuya, image courtesy of the artist, Bortolami Gallery, New York, DOCUMENT, Chicago, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Paris & Zurich, and Vielmetter Los Angeles |
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| Lorna Simpson, Detached Night, 2019. LACMA, gift of Andy Song. © Lorna Simpson, photo courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth |
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| Deanna Lawson, Salmo 91, 2021. LACMA, purchased with funds provided by Ryan Gollan, Barend Van den Brande, and the Ralph M. Parsons Fund |
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| Samuel de Saboia, Self Generated Magic Organic Freedom, 2024. LACMA, gift of Danny First and the Cabin. © Samuel de Saboia, photo by Gene Ogami |
Brazilian artist Samuel de Saboia's
Self-Contained Magic Organic Freedom was created during a La Brea Studio Residency and shown at the Cabin, the nano-alternative space in dealer Danny First's Hancock Park backyard.
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| Theaster Gates, This is a Declaration of Love, 2017. Courtesy of Steve and Lizzie Blatt |
The books are bound copies of Jet magazine.
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| Zizipho Poswa, Ukukhula I and II, 2018. LACMA, gift of the 2019 Decorative Arts and Design Acquistions Committee, with additional support from Debbie and Mark Attansasio and Allison and Larry Berg |
Two sculptures by South African artist Zizipho Poswa, representing male and female, are made of ceramic. "Ukukhula" means "growth" in the isiXhosa language.
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| Ibrahim Mahama, No. 20, 2014. LACMA, gift of Steve and Lizzie Blatt |
Comments
The most interesting for me is Hassan Hajjaj, Caravane, 2011. (LACMA, purchased with funds provided by Art of the Middle East: CONTEMPORARY). But for the life of me I can't tell the media: 3-dimensional? Mixed-media? Oil on canvas? So frustrating to have to guess.
The El-Anatsui is lovely, especially the dropping ribbons.
Catalog in our future?
Also, since the Broad wing is already focused on modern and contemporary art, using additional square footage in the Resnick Pavilion for the same type and period (but mainly contemporary) strikes me as overkill. Even more so since older periods of art have been missing at LACMA after its original buildings were torn down over 4 years ago. Even more so too since museums like MOCA, the Broad and Hammer have entered the LA scene since 1965.
LA ain't got nothing like NYC's Modern, so contemporary versus modern in Southern Ca makes newer art even more a case of "been there, done that."
There is a catalog, though it's not yet on the LACMA store site. Here's the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Imagining-Black-Diasporas-21st-Century-Poetics/dp/1636810896/ref=sr_1_1?crid=RITUQ9H92ERN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gtJoZx4BuffN7iCzYD85Xw.4V6z91S5VfEN1WVrWST15l2M9-MHaHxJlNH-Iz9xX2I&dib_tag=se&keywords=imagining+black+diasporas+21st+century+art+and+poetics&qid=1734375839&sprefix=imagining+black+%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1
> Imagining Black Diasporas:
> 21st-Century Art and Poetics
> December 15, 2024 –
> August 3, 2025
> BCAM, Level 2
Thank God for small favors. LACMA's webpage still suggests the museum is a museum of contemporary art and (to paraphrase the LA Times) "not a very good one at that."
> Brazil, the Caribbean, Canada, and
> Europe, as well as the U.S. There is
> a strong contingent of Los Angeles
> artists, reflecting the city's importance
> as a center of African-American art.
"African-America?" A person from Africa? A person like Elon Musk?
The sentences of some "60-some artists" make me think of how LACMA, at least before the 1965-1986 buildings were flattened, would often place the artworks of contemporary artists not in the Broad building, but in sections of the Ahmanson, Hammer or Arts of Americas galleries. Or in locations based not an artist's age or style, but based on his or her race, ethnicity or nationality.
Aspects of segregation to me defy logic or integrity.
Seriously?
If there can be Latin American art sales and art shows [and whole museums, such as El Museo del Barrio], what's the beef with African American art shows?
Check out the Mall the next time you're in DC.
Elon Musk was born in South Africa, so he is technically African. Meaning he was born on that continent. However, in terms of citizenship, I don't know his status. So he isn't necessarily African-American, with "American" referring to a person with legal-political ties to the US, not Canada, Mexico or another part of the Americas.
I don't believe Musk is homosexual, transsexual or bisexual, so his pronouns aren't quite as complicated or ambiguous.
I wonder if he'll visit the new LACMA when it opens in 2026? Musk was formerly partly based in the LA area, but he has since moved a major division of his corporation out of the region. So now LACMA in the future will have even fewer potential benefactors to help balance its stretched budget.