Black Lives Matter
Words and images from Toyin Ojih Odutola, Kehinde Wiley, Carolyn Lawrence, Kerry James Marshall, Amy Sherald
‘Untitled’ (2009) by Kerry James Marshall - Acrylic on PVC panel, 61” x 73”.
Clarity & Understanding
I first wrote about Toyin Ojih Odutola’s work in this Artist Spotlight from 2016. I’ve returned to it often. From the dangers of a single story to why she put a black Benedict Cumberbatch in a hoodie. A clear and considered thinker, Toyin artfully chronicles the difference of the black/white experience while illuminating the humanity shared by all. I hope the artists and links featured here strike a similar chord of clarity and connection.
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Talk Art’s interview with Toyin went straight to the top of my playlist this morning. Initially recorded in January they reconnected after the latest events and postponed Barbican show. Quotes below from their conversation.
“One of my friends said something to me a few months ago that I always keep close to my heart, she said love isn’t about saying I love you all the time it’s about saying I understand you. And I think that’s what people really need to do, they need to learn to understand and stop trying to get defensive, stop trying to make it about an individual issue, this is a systemic issue and it effects people disproportionately and you need to understand that, you know, that’s the key.”
‘First Night at Boarding School’ (2017) - Charcoal, pastel, and pencil on paper, 64” x 42”
“Art gives us that why, why do we live this way, why do we believe the things we believe, why is the system like this and then it gets you out of that individual space and into something grander. It takes the load off of you. It’s not you. You’re not the problem, you’re just part of a system that’s wrong.”
‘Paris Apartment’ by Toyin Ojih Odutola (2016-17) - charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper.
Kehinde Wiley
“I think the starting point of my work is decidedly empathy. All of it is a self-portrait. I never paint myself but, in the end, why am I going out of my way to choose these types of stories and narratives? It’s about seeing yourself in other people. People forget America itself is a stand-in for a sense of aspiration the world holds on to. It’s a really sad day when the source of light criticises light itself.”
‘Kern Alexander Study I’ - (2011) - oil on paper, 53" x 40"
Kerry James Marshall
Quotes from Apollo Magazine interview (2019).
“Part of my project is to escape this kind of imperative that everything you do as a black person is always about lack. That there’s never a moment in which you have simple pleasure – where you’re just there, where you’re just simply being. And your being is not fraught with all these other layers of historical meaning.”
‘Past Times’ (1997) - Acrylic & collage on unstretched canvas, 114" x 156"
“Part of what I’m doing in my work is about attending to this absence of black representation in the historical narrative,’ he tells me. ‘But the question is always then, when you put black people in a picture, what should they be doing?”
‘Keeping the Culture’ (2010) - oil on board, 30" x 48"
“I don’t do pictures in which the figures are traumatised in any way. I’m trying to create a certain kind of normalcy; a kind of everyday-ness, a commonplace-ness – a sense of simple presence.”
Carolyn Lawrence
Quote from Crystal Bridges interview (2018).
“Art and artists can be a way to interpret how race affects everyone. Our images are a healing force against negative images that are an assault upon the minds of Black people. These images breed self-doubt, identity confusion and self-hate. The more unaware a Black person is about the strength of his character and other Blacks past and present, the more easily his mind can be manipulated. Our images reinforce what is already naturally authentic about us and call us to love ourselves.”
Black Children Keep Your Spirits Free (1972) - acrylic on canvas, 49” × 51”
Amy Sherald
Quotes from HyperAllergic interview (2018).
“When I look at my career, and I look at Black women who are figurative painters, I can probably count less than 10 in the whole world, which is kind of insane. We’re not growing up in West Baltimore saying “I want to be an artist,” and if they are, it’s squashed by the time they’re in the 11th grade. It’s not a reality. I’m hoping that with my presence as a Black woman in the art world that those kinds of things can change, too.”
The Boy With No Past (2014) - Oil on canvas, 54” × 43”
“It’s difficult to expand our notion of identity when it’s constantly in a reactionary space because of things that are happening, because of Black Lives Matter, because of Me Too, because of all those things. It feels very complicated to want to explore yourself and your identity outside of that because we’re not free if everybody’s not free, right? There’s a sense of being connected in that way because of that. I think that’s a struggle of mine of wanting to release and get to know Amy outside of all the codifications.”
‘If you surrendered to the air you could ride it’ (2019) - Oil on canvas, 130’ x 108’
Barkley L. Hendricks
“The gold leaf kicked my ass” from his Artist Talk in Chicago (2016).
‘Lawdy Mama’ (1969) - oil and gold leaf on canvas, 54” × 36”
LaToya M. Hobbs
Quote from supporting text of her MFA Show (2013).
“I use the female figure to challenge past notions of identity concerning the black female body, deconstruct them, and resurrect an ideology grounded in positivity.”
‘Prosper: to do well succeed or thrive’ (2019) - Acrylic, Collage and Relief Carving on Wood Panel, 48” x 36”
Resources
Google doc of anti-racism resources with books to read, films to watch, podcasts to listen to, resources for parents, etc.
Take care,
Grant