joseph scissorhands: The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure

Amy Sherald - She Was Learning To Love Moments, To Love Moments For Themselves, (detail).

There has never it seems, been a better time to be a black artist. Many institutions appear now to be open to attempting to redress the balance of inclusivity in their collections and exhibition schedules devoting space in their galleries for exhibitions such as this one. The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure is another black artist-focused exhibition again expertly curated by Ekow Eshun after his wonderful staging of In the Black Fantastic at Hayward Gallery (here), and Like Paradise at Claridge's Art Space last year (here). There doesn't appear to be any grand concept underpinning exhibition. It is just a well curated group of prominent contemporary black artists showcasing their work which just happens to place the black figure centre stage. They present these figures subjectively rather than objectively as has all too often been the case in the past. The evidence of which you can see for yourself across town at the current Royal Academy show Entangled Pasts 1768-now: Art, Colonialism & Change. That exhibition again tries to redress the (im)balance of the representation of black artists and the black figure in Western art. Among the group of artists at this exhibition at the NPG there are those who depict their subjects through a natural style of portaiture such as Thomas J Price represented here with a huge gold coloured bronze of a female who has paused, caught in contemplation mid-exercise, and the quietly powerful painterly studies by the talented Jennifer Packer (previously here), it is truly always a pleasure to see her work. This is in contrast to other artists present here who take a more conceptual approach in their representations of the black figure. Barbara Walker (whose work is also represented in the Royal Academy exhibition) cleverly flips the script on marginalised black figures in historical pictures. In her work these very same black figures become the central players portrayed through beautiful pencil drawings whereas the white figures who took up centre stage in the original paintings previously, are now reduced to a mere ghostly presence barely discernible, embossed in the background. Nathaniel Mary Quinn presents imaginary portraits who appear to be conjured up from a variety of imaginary and possibly real portraits of famous black figures which have been sliced up and layered collage-style although painted, in the style of the Surrealist dinner party game of exquisite corpse. Another interesting aspect which both the exhibition and two artists in particular draw attention to are the blackness of skin tones. Black skin tones come in a wide variety of shades from the lightest of complexions known as 'high yellow' to the darkest of tones which is usually referred to as 'blue black', and every shade in-between. Amy Sherald (who gained fame for her portrait of Michelle Obama), uses a strange grayscale to depict her subjects, whereas Kerry James Marshall who has been given the honour of having a room to himself, paints his figures with the blackest of hues emphasising the whiteness of their eyes and teeth. Marshall's figures are 'super-black', confident in their place and presence within the world and proud of their extraordinary blackness. This exhibition takes place in the temporary ground floor exhibition spaces of the NPG, a space I personally find awkward and disjointed. I feel the small vestibule there does no favours to the works of Titus Kaphar and Kimathi Donkor exhibited there. I had hoped that the renovations which took place at the gallery would have done something to remedy this situation and create a seamless transitional space between galleries here but the space unfortunately is as fragmentary as ever. Although perhaps not as groundbreaking as In The Black Fantastic, curator Eshun has nonetheless created another striking and compelling exhibition from valuable black talent. The room containing the works of Jennifer Packer, Michael Armitage, Wangechi Mutu and Noah Davis alone warrants expansion and a further exhibition exploring connections between their respective oeuvres.