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Kwame Brathwaite

Education

Born 1938 in New York, NY
Lives and works in New York, NY

Selected Exhibitions

2023
"Kwame Brathwaite: Things Well Worth Waiting For," Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2022
"Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite," New-York Historical Society, New York, NY
"Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite," Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC
2021
"Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite," Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
"Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite," Blanton Museum of Art, Austin TX
2020
"Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite," Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia SC
"The Struggle Continues, Victory is Certain," Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019
"Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite," The Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA
"Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite," Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
2018
"Kwame Brathwaite: Celebrity and the Everyday," curated by Jesse Williams and Kwame S. Brathwaite, Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016
"Black is Beautiful: Empowerment Through the Lens of Kwame Brathwaite, 1962 – 1975," Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions, Performances and Video Screenings

2023
"Pocket Universe," Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (forthcoming)
"Black American Portraits," Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN (forthcoming)
"Black American Portraits," Spelman College Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming)
"It’s Time," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2022
"A Time of Gifts: Six Years of Photographs Given to the Collection, 2016-2022," Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
"This Tender, Fragile Thing," Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY
"A Picture Gallery of the Soul," Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2021
"Black American Portraits," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
"Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking about History with The Block’s Collection," The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
"Facing Forward: Photographic Portraits from the Collection," Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
"Voices of Fashion. Black Couture, Beauty and Styles," Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands
2020
"Brathwaite, Cheng, Coulis, Cowan, Dodge, Dove, Glabush, Huckaby, Jorden, Luck, O’Neill, Petit- Frère," Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"Tools of Revolution: Fashion Photography and Activism," Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
"Duro Olowu: Seeing Chicago," The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Chicago, IL
2019
"Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX This Synthetic Moment (Replicant), curated by David Hartt, includes Lewis Baltz, Kwame Brathwaite, Lynne Cohen, Andrew Esiebo, David Hartt, Joanne Petit-Frère, Gabriella Torres-Ferrer, Wilmer Wilson IV and Christopher Wool, Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"Mapping Black Identities," Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
"A Brilliant Spectrum: Recent Gifts of Color Photography," Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
2018
"Cry of Victory and Short Walks to Freedom," curated by Modou Dieng in association with For Freedoms, Project + Gallery, St. Louis, MO
"Do Something To It. Do Something Else To It.," Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"This Synthetic Moment," curated by David Hartt, includes Liz Johnson Artur, James Barnor, Kwame Brathwaite, David Hartt, Zoe Leonard, Christopher Williams, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY
"Mod New York: Fashion Takes a Trip," Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY

Bibliography

2023
Mousse Magazine Staff. "“It’s Time” at Vielmetter, Los Angeles," Mousse Magazine, February 18 (Link)
Nys Dambrot, Shana. "A Pair of Exhibitions Renovate Portraiture and Perfection at Vielmetter Los Angeles," LA Weekly, February 9 (Link)
Clayton, Dominique. "The Best Black Art Shows in Los Angeles Right Now," Cultured, January 30
2022
Rodney, Seph. “Black Can Be Even More Beautiful,” The New York Times, November 23, 2022. Brathwaite, Kwame S.. “A Look at Life Through My Father’s Lens,” National Geographic, June 17
2021
Ogunnaike, Lola. “Inside Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz’s Art-Filled Modernist Home Overlooking the Pacific Ocean,” Architectural Digest, November 2
Faires, Robert. “’Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite’ at the Blanton Museum of Art,” The Austin Chronicle, August 6
Sokolove, Sofia. “New Blanton Exhibit Showcases Prominent but Under-recognized Figure of the Second Harlem Renaissance,” Alcade, July 9
Lenamond, Jessica. “’Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite’ Opens at the Blanton,” Austin Monthly, June 23
Bradley, Adam. “Kwame Brathwaite, the Photographer Who Captured the Beauty in Blackness,” The New York Times Style Magazine, June 17
“Two-Thirds of PAFA’s New Acquisitions Are By Women and African American Artists,” Art Fix Daily, April 1
Angeleti, Gabriella. “Pérez Art Museum Miami renames endowment fund for Black art to reflect the wider diaspora,” The Art Newspaper, February 8
Fine, Zachary. “Photography in Fragments,” Art in America, January 7
2020
Adesina, Precious. “The birth of the Black is Beautiful movement,” BBC Culture, August 31
Scott, Chadd. “Kwame Brathwaite Shows ‘Black Is Beautiful’ At Columbia Museum of Art,” Forbes, July 27
Marcoci, Roxana. “Staff Picks: Art for This Moment,” MoMA Magazine, July 6
McCarthy, Fiona. “House tour: the kaleidoscopic Upper East Side apartment of a beauty executive,” Vogue Australia, June 18
Coleman, Lauren DeLisa. “Kwame Brathwaite Photos Immortalized The ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Identity Movement. Here’s Why They’re Undergoing Resurgence,” The Moguldom
Nation, February 27
Sabir, Wanda. “’Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite,’ closing March 1,” San Francisco Bay View, February 26
Graver, David. “All the Celebrities at the Parties and Premieres of Sundance, Weekend One,” Vogue, January 29
Harshaw, Pendarvis. “The Faces and Conversations of MoAD’s Winter Opening Reception,” KQED Arts, January 24
Judah, Hettie. “14 Unmissable fashion exhibitions opening in 2020,” Vogue Australia, January 14
2019
Sargent, Antwuan. The New Black Vanguard Photograph between Art and Fashion, Aperture, p. 14, 2019
Doggett, Jolie A. “Everything You Need To Know About Rihanna’s Latest Muse, The Grandassa Models,” Huff Post, May 31
Freeman, Liam. “Rediscovering Photographer Kwame Brathwaite, Rihanna’s Inspiration For Fenty,” British Vogue, May 30
Fredette, Meagan. “Rihanna’s Debut Fenty Collection Was Inspired by the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Movement,” Teen Vogue, May 29
Renshaw, David. “Rihanna discusses influence of 1960s ‘Black Is Beautiful’ movement as Fenty launches,” The Fader, May 29
Mower, Sarah. “Rihanna reveals the story behind her latest collection’s imagery,” Vogue, May 29
Easter, Makeda. “How one Kwame Brathwaite photo captures the ‘60s ‘Black Is Beautiful’ movement,” Los Angeles Times, May 9
Hosking, Taylor. “These Breathtaking Photos Shaped the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Movement,” Vice, May 7
Griffin, Chanté. “The Bold and The Beautiful: Kwame Brathwaite at The Skirball,” LA Weekly, May 1
Ford, Tanisha C.; Willis, Deborah. “Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful,” Aperture, May 1, 2019, 144 pages.
Harris, Ida. “How Photographer Kwame Brathwaite Made ‘Black Is Beautiful’ A Powerful Visual Movement,” Blavity, April 26
Little, Colony. “How Photography and Jazz Merged to Forge the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Movement,” Hyperallergic, April 23
McClure, Diana. “The Beauty of Blackness in Kwame Brathwaite’s Images,” Afropunk, April 28
Franklin, Erica. “Ruth E. Carter Celebrates Opening of Skirball Cultural Center’s ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Exhibit,” The Hollywood Reporter, April 12
Newman, Scarlett. “Kwame Brathwaite’s powerful photos of the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ movement,” CNN, April 12
Agyemang, Nana. “An Uptown Photographer Who Captured Harlem Life,” The Cut, April 9, 2019. Jenkins, Morgan. “Kwame Brathwaite’s Photographic Vision of a Black Female Utopia,” Artsy, April 8
Eshun, Ekow. “Black Is Beautiful: The Photographs of Kwame Brathwaite,” Financial Times, April 5
Sayej, Nadja. “Black Is Beautiful: Celebrating the significance of Kwame Brathwaite,” The Guardian, March 26
Foggatt, Tyler. “Showcase: Kwame Brathwaite,” The New Yorker, March 18
2018
Rawles, Erica. “Critics’ Picks: Kwame Brathwaite,” Artforum International, December 30, 2018. Smith, Melissa. “The Photos That Lifted Up the Black Is Beautiful Movement,” New York Times LENS Blog, November 27
Mizota, Sharon. “Review: Exhibitions by Kwame Brathwaite, Deana Lawson and Meleko Mokgosi challenge how blackness is represented,” Los Angeles Times, November 14
Riefe, Jordan. “Jesse Williams Co-Curates Photo Show on Black Icons and Ordinary People,” The Hollywood Reporter, November 5
Bohnacker, Siobhán. “Photo Booth: An Artist’s Ornate Natural Hair Styles, Through the Eyes of a Legendary Photographer of Black Beauty,” The New Yorker, March 30
“The Fantastic Designs of ‘Hair Wars: A Crew of Stylists Flaunt Their Creations at MoMA PS1,” The New Yorker, March 19
Sykes, Morgan. “A Photographic Meditation on Time,” The Cut, March 4
Laneri, Raquel. “How a Harlem fashion show started the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Movement,” New York Post, February 5
Nnadi, Chioma. “How One Photographer Captured the Soul of the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Movement,” Vogue, February 2
2017
Ford, Tanisha C. “Kwame Brathwaite Black is Beautiful,” Elements of Style, Aperture, October, 2017, pp. 46-53.
Albrecht, Donald; Magidson, Phyllis. “Mod New York: Fashion Takes a Trip. New York: Museum of the City of New York,” The Monacelli Press, 2017.
Cotter, Holland. “In ‘Black Power!,’ Art’s Political Punch and Populist Reach,” New York Times, April 6
2016
Hyland, Véronique. “8 Runway Shows That Pushed Fashion Forward,” New York Magazine, May
Ford, Tanisha C. “Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul,” University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, pp. 41-66.
Hass, Nancy. “A Modern Masterpiece, Restored – and Lived In,” The New York Times Style Magazine, September 19
Rosen, Miss. “Black is Beautiful: The Photographs That Started a Movement,” CRAVE Online, June 1
1978
Thompson, Cordell M. “Words of the Week,” New York Beat, September 14
1977
Thompson, Cordell M. “New York Beat,” New York Beat, May 12
1976
Thompson, Cordell M. “New York Beat,” New York Beat, April 1,
1975
Thompson, Cordell M. “New York Beat,” New York Beat, November 27
Thompson, Cordell M. “New York Beat,” New York Beat, July 24
1974
Brathwaite, Kwame. “The Jackson 5 in Africa,” Blues and Soul Magazine, December 25

Public Collections

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL
Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, New York, NY
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Sidley Austin LLP, New York, NY
Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY