Portraits were made to capture the wealth and power of royals and other socialites, but the figures and paintings have disproportionately represented Causasians. Since representation and diversity are crucial all throughout the different forms of art and media, many artists of color have been stepping up to make sure this was shown. Amongst them is a British painter and writer named Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
Yiadom-Boakye is a prominent figure in promoting black artistry today. According to a statement from Tate Britain, she is even one of the “most important figurative painters today.” Her latest gallery show, “Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly in League With the Night,” is on view now through May 2021. Before this, however, she has been known for her incredible paintings like Condor and the Mole (2011) and Wrist Action (2010).
Her style is very reminiscent of 18-century art, but her paintings are a breath of fresh air from what is usually seen in them. She proudly makes fictitious black figures as the protagonists of her paintings, changing the expectations made by this genre’s history of white artists. In an interview for Kaleidoscope, she even imparted that “people are tempted to politicize the fact that I paint black figures, and the complexity of this is an essential part of the work.”
She and other black figurative painters have been reclaiming and representing their identities in ways that many years before would’ve been unthinkable. Often in paintings, it has been quite rare to see black representation at the forefront. The change these artists are making in the art industry is a renaissance of its own: it demonstrates how empowerment can be approached in different ways, even in art.
Article by Rio Gutierrez of Walter John F. Kennedy High School
Photo Courtesy of Artnews.com