Beyond the Canvas Blog

Feb 4
2 min

Kerry James Marshall IS the canon

“Who needs to NOT think of you as a Black artist to consider you a real artist?” - Kerry James Marshall There are a handful of artists whose work I revere to the point that I don't dare write about them. Kerry James Marshall is one of them, and today I'm taking the plunge. I came across this video where he cites Langston Hughes' writings on how Black artists should not aspire to paint or write like white people, but rather should "express their individual dark-skinned selves

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Rewriting the art canon: Kehinde Wiley's triptych for Penn Station, NYC

Beyond the Canvas

Jan 28
2 min

Rewriting the art canon: Kehinde Wiley's triptych for Penn Station, NYC

"I like Venetian painting a lot: looking at Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is one of my favourite things to do. When I went to my first Venice Biennale, I was blown away when I saw the works of these artists on the ceilings. The technical proficiency impressed me." - Kehinde Wiley Although these days our lives are mostly confined within the domestic walls, the time will come again when we get to enjoy the thrill of being in a public space that has been elevated by art. You know, t

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Beyond the Canvas

Aug 29, 2020
2 min

Lorna Simpson's fantastical hairscapes

"Black women’s heads of hair are galaxies unto themselves, solar systems, moonscapes, volcanic interiors. The hair she paints has a mind of its own. It is sinuous and cloudy and fully alive. It is forest and ocean, its own emotional weather. We are compelled, always, by the phantasmagorical hair, which both invites and obscures. In these pictures, black women’s phantasmagorical hair is like smoke, but nothing is turning to ash. It is a non-consuming smoke, the mesmerizing bea

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Beyond the Canvas

Aug 27, 2020
2 min

Titus Kaphar's Shifting the Gaze, 2017

Painting is a visual language where everything in the painting is meaningful, is important, is coded. But sometimes, because of the compositional hierarchy, it's hard to see other things. - Titus Kaphar In 2017, Titus Kaphar hosted a TED talk whose title was "Can art amend history?" It's an impassioned speech during which he tells the story of how he first came to engage with art and some the struggles that went with it. Do look it up. While on stage, Kaphar unveils a copy h

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Dwelling: In This Space We Breathe, Khadija Saye (1992-2017)

Beyond the Canvas

Jul 27, 2020
2 min

Dwelling: In This Space We Breathe, Khadija Saye (1992-2017)

‘The series was created from a personal need for spiritual grounding after experiencing trauma. The search for what gives meaning to our lives and what we hold onto in times of despair and life changing challenges.’ - Khadija Saye To most of you, Grenfell Tower won't ring any bells. To Londoners, its mention immediately evokes a raging blaze, a preventable tragedy, and the tragic loss of 72 innocent lives, the victims of social inequality and injustice. Khadija Saye, 24 years

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Betye Saar's "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima"

Beyond the Canvas

Jul 5, 2020
2 min

Betye Saar's "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima"

The Black Lives Matter movement is having an extraordinary impact on the way brands communicate and behave. Whether it's just 'woke washing' or genuine corporate activism, a growing number of consumers expects brands to become credible advocates of the black community and address long-standing racist and discriminatory stances. Some of the world's biggest names are scrambling to engage in the conversation and put things rights. As a case in point, after 131 years Quaker Oats,

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Celebrating the female black queer gaze: Mickalene Thomas

Beyond the Canvas

Jun 27, 2020
1 min

Celebrating the female black queer gaze: Mickalene Thomas

The growing momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement and the increased media focus on black culture have brought a multitude of extraordinary black artists to my attention. My latest and hugely exciting discovery is Mickalene Thomas (b.1971). Thomas uses a unique combination of paint, fabrics, rhinestones and glitter to create dazzling mixed-media works that draw on western art history and popular culture. Her vision of female beauty and sexuality challenges and subverts s

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