Art21 is the world’s leading source to learn directly from the artists of our time. The mission of Art21 is to educate and expand access to contemporary art through the production of documentary films ...

A weekly digest of things to watch, read, and hear from the comforts of your home, selected by Art21-featured artists and Art21 staff. Four new films are featured in Art21’s summer 2021 programming ...

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Before coming on as the director of this film, I thought I understood Arthur Jafa’s practice. I had seen APEX and Love is the Message, the Message is Death, and saw AJ’s work as chronicling Black life ...

New York, New York—April 17, 2025—Art21 announced the release of “Arthur Jafa: Sequencing the Notes,” a new film premiering Wednesday, April 30, at 12:00 p.m ...

Theaster Gates was born in Chicago in 1973. He first encountered creativity in the music of Black churches on his journey to becoming an urban planner, potter, and artist. Gates creates sculptures ...

Catherine Opie was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1961. Opie investigates the ways in which photographs both document and give voice to social phenomena in America today, registering people’s attitudes and ...

In this rare interview conducted in December 2017, Barbara Kruger shares her media diet, what she sees as art’s role in contemporary society, and the inspiration behind two of her earliest works.

Rackstraw Downes was born in Kent, England in 1939. Often described as a realist painter, Downes prefers not to use that term. He views the act of seeing and the art of representation as culturally ...

William Kentridge was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1955. He attended the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (1973–76), Johannesburg Art Foundation (1976–78), and studied mime and ...

Look for the plus icon next to videos throughout the site to add them here. Save videos to watch later, or make a selection to play back-to-back using the autoplay feature. While sharing her earliest ...