The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure, National Portrait Gallery, London: 22 February–19 May 2024

This exhibition includes work of contemporary artists including Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Noah Davis, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Amy Sherald, Henry Taylor and Barbara Walker.

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Curated by Ekow Eshun this exhibition  celebrates  artists who work with figuration as a means of illuminating the richness and complexity of Black life, considering  how artists depict the Black form, both against a social backdrop of high cultural visibility and continued social vulnerability.

It also examines  the absence of Black presence within Western art history. Within this context, exhibited portraits will examine the aesthetic, psychological and political considerations involved in representing blackness.

L-R: Kampala Suburb by Michael Armitage (2014). Oil on Lubugo bark cloth © Michael Armitage. Photo © White Cube (Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd)
L-R: Kampala Suburb by Michael Armitage (2014). Oil on Lubugo bark cloth © Michael Armitage. Photo © White Cube (Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd)
Untitled (Painter) by Kerry James Marshall, 2009, Acrylic on PVC, Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Katherine S. Schamberg by exchange, 2009.15. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Untitled (Painter) by Kerry James Marshall, 2009, Acrylic on PVC, Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Katherine S. Schamberg by exchange, 2009.15. Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Opening Hours

Monday:
11:30 - 19:00
Tuesday:
11:30 - 19:00
Wednesday:
11:30 - 19:00
Thursday:
11:30 - 19:00
Friday:
11:30 - 19:00
Saturday:
11:30 - 19:00
Sunday:
11:30 - 19:00
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