Celebrating the Black Body

About

In celebration of Black History Month, Janet Rady Fine Art is proud to present Celebrating the Black Body, a group show curated by Luli Gibbs. The selected works by nine African contemporary artists explore the heritage, dignity and current reality of black life and culture.

The featured artists are Ben Agbee, Maxwell Boadi, Lanre Buraimoh, Kwaku Dapaah Opoku, Cecilia Lamptey-Botchway, Kamal Larry, James Mishio, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, and Theophilus Tetteh.

This selection focuses on works that use the physicality of the human form to express the rich, varied and dynamic African experience. From the power and divinity of the African woman explored by Cecilia Lamptey-Botchway and Ben Agbee, to the strength and directness of Larry's paintings, the voices of the artists are clearly heard. While Tetteh, Mishio and Quaicoe’s portraits powerfully exude a dignity and independence that reflect a timeless and dignified vision of the African figure; they return our gaze directly, and place the Black body at the centre of the painting. Boadi’s adventurous expressionistic style of paintings detail the urban evolution of the Accra landscape, daily relationships and interactions in a sensitive and vibrant style. The Yoruba heritage of Buraimoh comes to life through his “bead paintings” inspired by traditional Yoruba beadwork revealing natural forms and jubilant colours.

These works are brought together, not just owing to the background of the creators, but for their power and ability to expound on what it is to live in the Black body today, and to propose divergent readings of contemporary art being produced in Africa right now. There is a joyful, dynamic, discursive and incisive quality to these works, that offer a more diverse insight of the lived experience from an African perspective, which enriches the celebration of Black history and heritage this month.