The FLAG Art Foundation

03/11/2023

CLOSING TODAY, Saturday, March 11, 2023, at The FLAG Art Foundation: “Spotlight: ,” featuring the artist’s "Winter Park," 2022, with a text by painter and art writer . FLAG Spotlight exhibition series includes a new or never-before-exhibited artwork accompanied by a commissioned piece of writing. It is the hope of this series to create focused and thoughtful dialogues between the visual arts and critics, poets, scholars, etc.
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For more information, images, and to read Worth’s essay, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/spotlight-aubrey-levinthal
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Image: Installation view of “Spotlight: Aubrey Levinthal” at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2023. Photography by Steven Probert

03/11/2023

CLOSING TODAY, Saturday, March 11, 2023, at The FLAG Art Foundation: “I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You,” a solo exhibition by , comprises a cycle of sixteen large-scale works from Adams’s new series "Motion Picture Paintings," 2020-22, which extend the artist’s signature deconstructed, cubist-style portraits in a new cinematic direction. Freeze framed moments—drawn from movies, media, and the artist’s imagination—are emblazoned with a variety of graphic texts reminiscent of film titles. "Black life is a movie,” says Adams, “a psychological thriller, situational comedy, romance, adventure drama, suspense, and horror all rolled into one.”
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For more information and images, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibition/derrick-adams-i-can
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Image: Installation view of “Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You” at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2023. Photography by Steven Probert

03/02/2023

“Derrick Adams’s new show at The FLAG Art Foundation, 'I Can Show You Better than I Can Tell You,' is a tribute to the artist’s commitment to color, pattern, and the conditions that make up everyday moments of Black life in America: an expressive melding of form and content. Adams cites the influences—both in terms of narrative and painterly choices such as palette and flattened collage shapes—of Emma Amos, Romare Bearden, and Jacob Lawrence. As I walked through the exhibition, I also felt the evocative blending, in the painting 'Onward and Upward' (2021), of Faith Ringgold and Alex Katz and perhaps more esoteric references like the plotting of a Uc***lo in the composition of 'JUST' (2022) or the minimal tones of an A. Quincy Jones home in the panels of 'Man' (2022). On a brutally cold February day, I met with Adams at FLAG to discuss his warm and vibrant installation, what happens when you dress African export sculptures in Barbie clothes, and the power of shifting our understanding from fragments to facets.”
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Check out ’s full interview with in The Brooklyn Rail:

Derrick Adams’s new show at The FLAG Art Foundation, I Can Show You Better than I Can Tell You, is a tribute to the artist’s commitment to color, pattern, and the conditions that make up everyday moments of Black life in America: an expressive melding of form and content.

02/28/2023

and his current solo exhibition “I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You” (on view at The FLAG Art Foundation through Mar. 11, 2023) were profiled on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna! To watch the full video, visit https://www.nbc.com/today/video/how-derrick-adams-showcasing-black-culture-in-his-artwork/NBCN106821628
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For more information on "I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You," visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibition/derrick-adams-i-can

Installation view of Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2023 Photography by Steven Probert Installation view of Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2023 Photography by Steven Probert Installation view....

02/17/2023

“..With 16 paintings on view, this show is museum-worthy. It widens the view of [Derrick] Adams’s central theme, which is—as he has frequently said—Black joy. He wants to emphasize—to show, not tell—that there is more than trauma and oppression to Black life in America. There are the joys—of being, of achieving, of community, of creativity—that are themselves forms of resistance as well as the basis for an enormous swath of American culture, high and popular.”
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Check out ’s full review of “ : I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You” in today’s The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/arts/design/derrick-adams-paintings.html
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“Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You” is on view at The FLAG Art Foundation through March 11, 2023. For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibition/derrick-adams-i-can
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Image: An installation view of “Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You” at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2023. Photography by Steven Probert

Installation view of Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2023 Photography by Steven Probert Installation view of Derrick Adams: I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2023 Photography by Steven Probert Installation view....

02/09/2023

“‘So much of it is about having fun with the paint,’ says [Aubrey] Levinthal. If we focus on that, on the tactile variety of 'Winter Park,' it becomes a very different painting. Not the melancholy scene we see at first, but a painting full of dabs and scratches, of swipes and scrubbing gestures, of improvisatory painterly pleasures. Its barrenness becomes a kind of unostentatious, whimsical beauty. That’s true of so much of Levinthal’s work. The austerity, the mysterious anachronistic feeling—those never melt away. But they’re only part of the picture, offset by the sense of her energetic freehandedness. Always sure, never academic, her brush turns every shape into something blocky, wobbly, electric, and memorable.”
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An excerpt from painter and art writer 's essay on 's “Winter Park,” 2022, part of the artist’s Spotlight presentation opening tomorrow, February 10, 6-7 PM, at The FLAG Art Foundation. On view through March 11, 2023. For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/spotlight-aubrey-levinthal
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Image: Aubrey Levinthal. "Winter Park,"2022. Oil on panel, 48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm). Courtesy the artist and Monya Rowe Gallery. Photography by Steven Probert

01/11/2023

“I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You,” a solo exhibition by , opens Thursday, January 12, 6-8 PM, at The FLAG Art Foundation. Comprising a cycle of sixteen works from Adams’s “Motion Picture Paintings” series, the exhibition extends the artist’s signature deconstructed, cubist-style portraits in a new cinematic direction. On view through March 11, 2023. For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibition/derrick-adams-i-can
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Image: Derrick Adams. “So Much to Celebrate,” 2021. Acrylic, paper birthday hats, and pompoms on wood panel, 72 x 95 5/8 x 2 inches (200.7 x 242.9 x 5.1 cm). Courtesy the artist and LGDR

11/22/2022

The FLAG Art Foundation will be closed November 22-26, 2022, for the Thanksgiving holiday, and reopen to the public Wednesday, November 30, 11 AM-5 PM. Our current exhibitions "Tarek Atoui: The Whisperers" and "Spotlight: Umar Rashid" remain on view through December 10. For more information, visit www.flagartfoundation.org
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Image: Installation view of "Tarek Atoui: The Whisperers" at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2022. Photography by Steven Probert.

11/19/2022

“[…] inside the painting is a forever now for its soldiers. Paradoxically, we postulate their inevitable fate as we witness them, very much alive, eternally young, and partying at the edge of dessert paradise. It’s both reassuring and absurd, but despite whatever brought them here, they seem joyful and at least have one another.”
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An excerpt from Jonathan Rider's essay on 's painting "Legio V meets the Gucci Gang in the Sonoran Desert after a bloody skirmish and become lost to time. The colors that make purple," 2022, currently part of The FLAG Art Foundation's Spotlight series, on view through December 10, 2022. For more information, images, and to read the full essay, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibitions-umar-rashid
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Image: Umar Rashid. "Legio V meets the Gucci Gang in the Sonoran Desert after a bloody skirmish and become lost to time. The colors that make purple," 2022. Acrylic, ink, mica flake, and spray paint, 48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm). Courtesy the artist and Half Gallery

11/02/2022

“[…]The strength of Jallow’s storytelling is ambiguity. Surrealists did this so well, and they still keep us guessing, thinking (with an open mind), and questioning, all the while delivering powerful images and words straight into our subconsciouses. Each of Jallow’s paintings follows the logic of a dream. Each of her characters could be someone else, another woman, another being, or have multiple identities–and still we know, this is me, this is you.”
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An excerpt from art writer ’s essay on ’s painting “The Surrender,” 2022, currently part of The FLAG Art Foundation's Spotlight series, on view through November 12, 2022. For more information, images, and to read the full essay, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibitions/rugiyatou-ylva-jallow
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Image: Rugiyatou Ylva Jallow. “The Surrender,” 2022 (detail). Acrylic, oil paint, and thread on canvas, 60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 121.9 cm). Courtesy the artist and Carl Kostyál. Photograph by Steven Probert.

09/23/2022

Join e-flux Monday, September 26, 8 PM, for a live music set featuring 'Through Rust and Dusk,' an experimental music duo by and that incorporates improvisation techniques, custom made instruments, field recordings, and electronic sounds. The suave melodies of a club in Kaunas, the clamor of Kurdistan's markets, the howls of cheap synths and noise machines, the jibe of the now gone Beirut harbor, and the laughs of tribes in the Atlas mountains are some of the sounds that they collect. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.e-flux.com/live/491367/through-rust-and-dusk-live-music-by-nbsp-jad-atoui-and-tarek-atoui/

"Tarek Atoui: The Whisperers" opens Friday, September 30, 6-8 PM, at The FLAG Art Foundation. The recipient of the 2022 Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize, Atoui will present a reconfigured and expanded version of "The Whisperers" (recently on view at The Contemporary Austin) that includes two new sculptural components and a roster of collaborators unique to this presentation, including sound artists , , and . Over a two-month span, collaborators will use the exhibition as a site for experimentation and regularly interact with the installation through improvisational activations, community-based workshops, and performances. For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibitions/tarek-atoui

08/12/2022

CLOSING TODAY, Friday, August 12, 5 PM, at The FLAG Art Foundation: “Among Friends: Three Views of a Collection,” curated by artists and . Drawn from the collection of Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman, FLAG's founders, the exhibition includes singular presentations of artworks that reflect each artist’s primary discipline and personal sensibilities: Daignault’s selection stems from painting; Erizku focuses on photography and sculpture; and Gibbs select drawings. For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/.
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Image: Installation view of “Among Friends: Three Views of a Collection” at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2022. Photography by Steven Probert.

08/09/2022

We are thrilled to announce that (b. 1954, Zanzibar; lives and works in Preston, UK) has won the 2024 Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize! In addition to receiving a $200,000 cash award, Himid will present a solo exhibition premiering the The Contemporary Austin in spring 2024, which will then travel to The FLAG Art Foundation in fall 2024. The prize also includes an exhibition publication and public programming at both venues.
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Himid was selected by an independent advisory committee comprising renowned curators and art historians from the U.S. and the U.K. Led by sharon maidenberg, the Ernest and Sarah Butler Director & CEO of The Contemporary Austin, this year’s advisory committee included , Chief Curator, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, MO; , Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Curatorial and Collections, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, CA; , Senior Curator, Menil Collection, Houston, TX; and Dr. , Director, Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK; along with institutional advisor , Director, FLAG, New York, NY.
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For more information, check out ’s article in ARTnews: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/lubaina-himid-suzanne-deal-booth-flag-art-foundation-prize-1234635967/
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Image: Lubaina Himid. Photo: Magda Strawarska Beavan.

07/21/2022

“[…]I have an obsession with boarding schools and school uniforms and the ephemera inherent. It stems from an aesthetic interest coupled with coming of age. I'm well versed in Salinger and Fitzgerald and have read Evelyn Waugh with great enthusiasm. To answer your question, it has to do with this aesthetically perfect sense of ambition and safety. To practice Chopin in a drawing room that dates back to the 18th century feels so foreign in today's culture of transient pop songs and depressive news cycles.”
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An excerpt of a Q&A between artist and , a writer, editor, and current Head of Fashion & Beauty and Director of Public Figures for YouTube. The interview accompanies The FLAG Art Foundation's Spotlight presentation of Titus’s painting "Thy Margent Green," 2022. For more information and to read the full text, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibitions/honor-titus
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Image: Installation view of “Spotlight: Honor Titus” at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2022. Photography by Steven Probert.

07/20/2022

Tonight, Wednesday, July 20, from 6-8 PM, join The FLAG Art Foundation for an after-hours viewing of our summer shows “Among Friends: Three Views of a Collection,” curated by and , and “Spotlight: .” For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/.
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Image: Installation view of “Among Friends: Three Views of a Collection” at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2022. Photography by Steven Probert.

06/23/2022

The FLAG Art Foundation's Director Jonathan Rider is featured by Jacoba Urist in Cultured Magazine ‘Young Curators 2022,' alongside (SculptureCenter) (The Kitchen) ̈iraldes (The Drawing Center) (52 Walker Street) (Si Swiss-Institute) (Design Museum, London), (The 8th Floor), and (The 8th Floor).

For the full article, visit https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2022/06/22/as-the-flag-art-foundations-new-director-jonathan-rider-allows-for-thoughtfulness

Rider is nimble when it counts: leading the Foundation into a new era of public programming.

06/04/2022

“ : Remembrance,” the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York, closes today, Saturday, June 4, 2022, at The FLAG Art Foundation. Born in 1975 in Nigeria’s Benue State and based in Cologne, Germany, Uka paints large-scale portraits and group scenes that draw inspiration from childhood memories, including 70s-era fashion and hairstyles, wallpaper patterns, and dance moves. Elucidating the richness and joyfulness in both the solitary and shared moments of Black life, the artist offers a counternarrative to outmoded perceptions of both his home country and non-Western culture at large. A text by artist and curator accompanies the exhibition. For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibitions/peter-uka
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Image: Installation view of "Peter Uka: Remembrance" at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2022. Photography by Steven Probert.

06/03/2022

“Courage Before Expectation,” curated by former NFL linebacker turned art patron , closes tomorrow, Saturday, June 4, 2022, at The FLAG Art Foundation. The group exhibition explores the pursuit of dreams and unlikely trajectories, all inspired by certain quotes that intersect Rivers’s life in sports and his love of contemporary art. Artists include: , , , , , , , , and . For more information, visit https://www.flagartfoundation.org/exhibitions/courage-before-expectation
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Image: Installation view of "Courage Before Expectation" at The FLAG Art Foundation, 2022. Photography by Steven Probert.