Episode No. 452 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features artist Beuford Smith and art historian Shaina Larrivee.

Beuford Smith is featured in two exhibitions that are on view at recently re-opened American art museums. The Museum of Fine Arts Houston is the final venue for “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power.” The exhibition, which was curated by Mark Godfrey and Zoe Whitley, will be on view in Houston through August 30. The exhibition catalogue was published by the Tate. Amazon offers it for $28.

Artists included in “Soul of a Nation” that have been guests on The MAN Podcast include Betye Saar, Jack Whitten (twice), Howardena Pindell, Barkley L. Hendricks, Senga Nengudi, and Melvin Edwards. We have also offered programs on major solo exhibitions of work by Norman Lewis, Noah Purifoy, and Charles White.

Smith is also included in “Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop” at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The museum is open to members now, and re-opens to the general public on July 4. “Working Together” will remain on view through October 18. The exhibition was curated by Sarah Eckhardt, who was on Episode No. 441. It is accompanied by one of the best catalogues of the year; Amazon lists it at $41.

Smith was previously a guest on Episode No. 315. Images of artwork discussed on that program are here.

On the second segment, Hedda Sterne Foundation director Shaina Larrivee discusses “Hedda Sterne: Imagination & Machine” at the Des Moines Art Center. The exhibition, which was curated by DMAC’s Jared Ledesma, features work informed by John Deere tractor parts that Fortune magazine commissioned from Sterne in 1961. “Sterne” will be on view at DMAC through August 2. Images of art discussed on this segment are here.

Air date: July 2, 2020.