#black-art

#black-art

Lovelace O'Neal's monumental paintings, which move fluidly between abstraction and figuration, are characterized by large gestural marks and explosive energy. She was perhaps best known for her Lampblack paintings, in which she applied layers of loose black pigment to her canvases and used a chalkboard eraser or her hands to punctuate the surface with thin white or colored lines. They are insistent declarations of Blackness and presence in spaces where Black families and women have historically not always been welcome.

The Studio Museum in Harlem reopens after seven years on 15 November. Its new home was created from the ground up on the museum's former footprint at 144 West 125th Street. The first purpose-built space in its 57-year history, the 82,000-sq.-ft building was designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson as executive architect-the two teams also collaborated on the recently opened new Princeton University Art Museum. The Studio Museum's $300m price tag-fully fundraised, almost a quarter from public sources-includes construction, operating costs during closure and a $50m endowment (the institution's first).