The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure

Interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery showing work by 22  figurative artists from  across the African diaspora.

The show was gently themed but I liked the way it had distinct areas for each artist with good biographies explaining the focus of their work.

I saw a number of artists I’ve seen and liked in previous shows and I impressed myself at how many were familiar. I always love Barbara Walker’s delicate works of old masters embossed on paper with no colour then only the black figures highlighted in a beautiful drawing. It makes you look at familiar way in a different way. It’s also good to see more by Claudette Johnson and Michael Armitage. A beautiful Thomas J Price dominated the entrance to the show.

There were some new discoveries for me too. I loved Titus Kaphar’s works layering old master images which were very striking. Kerry James Marshall also looked to art historic themes to produce beautiful portraits and I liked Hurvin Anderson’s pictures of barber shops.

Closed 19 May 2024


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