COLLECTOR GREGG JUSTICE III SHARES HIS ART WISH LIST FOR 2025
“I am intentional and unapologetic about patronizing Black artists because I like art that looks like me and reflects my life… there’s so much genius in what we [Black people] hold,” says Baltimore resident Gregg Justice III. Justice is a world-traveled military veteran and has been a collector for over two decades. “I aim to keep money in Black hands. I understand how money should recirculate within our community before going out. Other cultures do a much better job of it.”
In addition to the economic benefit to Black artists, Justice sees Black collectors as “defacto historians” who fill the gap on missing or misinterpreted Black history by publicizing their collections.
Here he offers his forecast for Black art in 2025. Learn more about Justice’s collecting practices in Issue V of Pigment Magazine.
What exhibitions are you looking forward to visiting in 2025?
The Edges of Ailey exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art (Ends February 9)
What artist or artist work are you excited about or might acquire?
Baltimore based artist Ainsley Burrows
What impact will the incoming administration have on the growth of Black art?
I believe it will increase the desire for and about Black art exponentially, given the administration’s desire to attempt to erase “Black” history and its hostility towards people of color. The ensuing chaos will generate/awaken a creative genius unseen, which in turn creates growth in the market.
Who is your favorite historical Black artist?
BLACK CREATIVITY AWARDED WORKS ANNOUNCED
The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Griffin MSI) announced the winners of this year’s Black Creativity juried art competition. The Black Creativity program at Griffin MSI celebrates African American achievement in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.
Adult Artists
Best in Show — James Pate, Ayo’s Chair; Second Place — Jamaal Barber, One of Many; and Third Place — Kristen William, Joseph Caldwell Sr.
Youth Artists
Best in Show — Javiyah Isreal, Unbothered; Amber Scott, A Birthday Reminder; and Third Place — Malachi Surratt, Banco
Honorable Mention Adults
DonCee Coulter, Indiscernible Faces
Charles Eady, Looking Back
PrincessHana, Black Love Meditation
Raymond Thomas, SHE is joy
Kevin West, When Sunday Comes
Honorable Mention Youth
Alaina Greene, Untitled [Colored pencil]
Jasmine McGhee, Yellow haze
Devioune Thompson, Black Power
Black Creativity programs and exhibits reach over 10,000 students, their teachers, and their families in underserved Chicago neighborhoods each year. The show has been juried since 1970.
Ronewa Art Projects opened its 2025 exhibition season with the group exhibition Traces. Traces brings together an array of mediums and techniques by artists Ali Eckert (Germany/USA), Hyacinthe Ouattara (Burkina Faso/France) and Michael Dell (New Zealand). All three artists have an artistic practice driven by process, each having developed a characteristic method of layering their materials to explore and probe what is visible, what is unseen, and what is contained in the remnants.
ALONZO DAVIS, ARTIST WHO FOUNDED ONE OF AMERICA’S FIRST BLACK-OWNED GALLERIES, DIES AT 82
In 1967, Alonzo Davis, along with his brother Dale Brockman Davis, cofounded Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles, which some have credited with being the first major Black-owned contemporary art gallery in the United States. Together, they championed Black art and artists at a time when they were often overlooked and underrepresented. The gallery, which remained open through 1990, mounted shows that included work by artists such as David Hammons, Suzanne Jackson, Kerry James Marshall, Senga Nengudi, John Outterbridge, Noah Purifoy, and Carrie Mae Weems.
