Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists - by Antwaun Sargent (Hardcover)

About the Book

Highlighting a new generation of black artists, 'Young, Gifted and Black' surveys works drawn from the collection of Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi, longtime champions of emerging artists of African descent. Edited by Antwaun Sargent, the book features over 100 artworks -- including painting, photography, sculpture, and performance -- that explore collective memory, struggle, and self-representation. With texts by curators and artists offering diverse perspectives, [this book] speaks broadly to notions of community and identity that, while rooted in the specific experience of blackness, capture how these artists are shaping the ways we think about representation, race, and the history of art.

Book Synopsis

What's new, now and next from contemporary Black artists

A New York Times 2020 holiday gift guide pick

This book surveys the work of a new generation of Black artists, and also features the voices of a diverse group of curators who are on the cutting edge of contemporary art. As mission-driven collectors, Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi have championed emerging artists of African descent through museum loans and institutional support. But there has never been an opportunity to consider their acclaimed collection as a whole until now.

Edited by writer Antwaun Sargent (author of The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion), Young, Gifted and Black draws from this collection to shed new light on works by contemporary artists of African descent. At a moment when debates about the politics of visibility within the art world have taken on renewed urgency, and establishment voices such as the New York Times are declaring that "it has become undeniable that African American artists are making much of the best American art today," Young, Gifted and Black takes stock of how these new voices are impacting the way we think about identity, politics and art history itself.

Young, Gifted and Black contextualizes artworks with contributions from artists, curators and other experts. It features a wide-ranging interview with Bernard Lumpkin and Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem; and an in-depth essay by Antwaun Sargent situating Lumpkin in a long lineage of Black art patrons. A landmark publication, this book illustrates what it means (in the words of Nina Simone) to be young, gifted and Black in contemporary art.

Artists include: Mark Bradford, David Hammons, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, Adam Pendleton, Pope.L, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Henry Taylor, Mickalene Thomas, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sadie Barnette, Kevin Beasley, Jordan Casteel, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Bethany Collins, Noah Davis, Cy Gavin, Allison Janae Hamilton, Tomashi Jackson, Samuel Levi Jones, Deana Lawson, Norman Lewis, Eric N. Mack, Arcmanoro Niles, Jennifer Packer, Christina Quarles, Jacolby Satterwhite, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Sable Elyse Smith, Chanel Thomas, Stacy Lynn Waddell, D'Angelo Lovell Williams, Brenna Youngblood, and more.

Review Quotes

Memphis, TN: Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College, 09/08/23-12/09/23-- "Memphis, TN: Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College, 09/08/23-12/09/23"

[An] exploration of Blackness through art.--Maliah West "Business Insider"

A symphony of voices and visions from across generations all around the globe, creating a mellifluous confluence of style, media, and subject matter.--Sara Rosen "Document Journal"

An impressive collection of African-American art, with works by both emerging and well-known artists--Sarah Cascone "Artnet"

Young, Gifted and Black elaborates a kind of laundry list of luminaries [...] a roll call of two generations of Black artists who are preeminent across a range of media.--Seph Rodney "Hyperallergic"

Assembling both contemporary and next-gen African-American artists such as Kerry James Marshall and Bethany Collins from the collection of Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi, this work addresses inclusivity in the art world and its institutions.--Nathalie Atkinson "Globe and Mail"

Devoted art patrons Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi have spent years cultivating their personal collection, treating their Manhattan home like a gallery of rotating works by contemporary Black artists. Now, the married pair gives these important pieces a new platform in this D.A.P. text, which--in tandem with a traveling exhibition of the same name--features art from the likes of Yale grad Kevin Beasley and RISD-trained Julie Mehretu.--Andrea Timpano "Boston Home"

In Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists, the art critic Antwaun Sargent highlights hundreds of works by Black artists working predominantly in America today, from Kerry James Marshall and Tunji Adeniyi-Jones to Chiffon Thomas, Eric N. Mack and Wilmer Wilson IV.--Lauren Christensen "New York Times"

This survey of Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi's outstanding collection celebrates contemporary African-American artists. The curators have long been outspoken about their vision of inclusivity in museums, and this year their mission has taken on even greater urgency. What is clear from these pages is the energy and inspiration this generation of artists is bringing as they rewrite the future of the art establishment.--David Prior "PRIOR"

A new generation of Black artists and curators are making their mark on the art world while advocating for change within its institutions. The new book, Young Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists [...] includes work from a wide range of contemporary artists and credits the necessary work done to ensure Black art is made, seen, and valued.-- "NPR: WNYC"

Collecting work by contemporary artists of African descent, "Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists," edited by Antwaun Sargent, features names like Kerry James Marshall and David Hammons, as well as commentary by curators.--Noor Qasim "New York Times"

Edited by writer Antwaun Sargent, this book is a sweeping survey of Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi's collection. Lumpkin and Boccuzzi collect works from contemporary African American artists and have been very outspoken about their vision of inclusivity in museums. With Young, Gifted and Black they hope to shed light on young contemporary artists of African American descent who are focused on interrogating history and identity.--Danielle Walsh "Vanity Fair"

Encompasses up-and-coming talents such as Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Eric N. Mack, and Jordan Casteel, as well as established artists like Kerry James Marshall and Glenn Ligon. Edited by Antwaun Sargent, there are insightful contributions from leading curatorial voices like Thelma Golden, Lauren Haynes, and Jamilah James.--Lucy Rees "Galerie"

Offers a model for how art can be acquired in ways that benefit the artists just as much as the collector.--Maria Vogel "Artnet"

This expansive book chronicles emerging Black artists and the voices of a wide-ranging roster of contemporary curators shifting the perspectives in the art world. Artists include: Glenn Ligon, Bethany Collins, LaToya Ruby Frazier and a slew of others.--David Saric "S Magazine"

This important new survey looks at some of the most cutting-edge and revered Black artists of our time.--Adam Rathe "Town & Country"

This survey drawn from the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi family collection, brings together contemporary artists and preeminent voices in the Black community to consider how we approach racial identity and the broader scope of art history.-- "Art In America"

What's new, now and next from contemporary black artists? Edited by Antwaun Sargent (author of The New Black Vanguard), Young, Gifted, and Black draws from this collection to shed new light on contemporary artists of African descent.--Marcellas Reynolds "Essence"

Young, Gifted and Black is a survey of a new generation of Black artists that features mission-driven collectors Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi. Edited by writer Antwaun Sargent, the book examines this collection to draw attention to these contemporary emerging artists of African descent.--Sara Barnes "My Modern Met"

For Bernard Lumpkin, collecting art has always been about family.-- "Artsy"

A new book shows why Black artists drive the culture visually.--Trupti Rami "New York Magazine"

A new exhibition and accompanying book of Black contemporary art spotlights different generations of Black creatives and the Black collectors and curators that support them.--Yaniya Lee "British Vogue"

A trove of pivotal work by Black artists.--Coco Romack "Architectural Digest"

The book surveys the work of a new generation of Black artists, and features the voices of collectors and curators who are doing the work to ensure Black art is made, seen and valued. Created at a moment when debates about the politics of visibility within the art world have taken on renewed urgency, the book highlights the ways in which contemporary artists of African descent are impacting the way we think about identity, politics and art history itself.--Gabrielle Leung "Hypebeast"

This landmark publication explores the foundational and exceptional work of modern Black artists, as well as the salient role of the collectors who champion them.--Shana Nys Dambrot "LA Weekly"

These visionary artists are impacting the way we think about identity, politics, and art history today.--Lucy Rees "Galerie"

Collectors Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi have championed emerging artists of African descent through acquisitions, museum loans, and institutional support. This lavishly illustrated volume showcases their mission-driven collection and contextualizes works by more than 30 artists.--Victoria Valentine "Culture Type"

There's a renaissance of sorts happening in the contemporary art world right now, in which artists of African descent, particularly emerging artists, are enjoying unprecedented influence and visibility--Emily Dinsdale "Dazed"

With early works by renowned artists like Kara Walker and Mickalene Thomas presented alongside more recent creations from emerging artists like Sable Elyse Smith and Arcmanoro Niles, the show creates a dialogue with itself. Taken together, one gets a survey of the ways in which two subsequent generations of black artists are exploring everything from language and social abstraction to landscapes and the colour black.--Wilbert L. Cooper "i-D"