Black Venus : Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture

Intriguing exhibition at Somerset House of work by Black women artists and photographers looking  at black women.

I liked the fact the exhibition set itself in the context of historically negative images which often sexualised women or presented them as a representation of ‘other’ via a wall of such images and explanations of them.

Some of the artists had addressed these issues directly but others had looked more generally at the subject often using their own image and bodies. I had been to the African photography exhibition at Tate Modern then day before so was interested to spot some photographers in both and the show felt like it continued a conversation I’d started the day before.

Shout outs to Ayana V. Jackson who uses at historic tropes to make her point, Coreen Simpson who uses African masks to create Picasso like portraits commenting on the use of such masks by European artists and Maxine Walker’s photo booth style images.

Closes 24 September 2022


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