Beyond thrilled to share that I am curating the trio show “Traits To Remember: the aesthetics and politics of Black portraits” which will open this Saturday June 25 at @193gallery in Venice, Italy and features works by @sesseelangwe, @sir.idris and @barasketchbook. In #TraitsToRemember, Sesse Elangwe, Idris Habib and Bara Sketchbook, three artists originally from West Africa and working between Africa and the United States, employ portraiture as a mean to create contemporary iconographies of Black communities. After the centuries of underrepresentation and invisibilization of Black people in art history, the works of these artists like a few others of their generation can be interpreted as a response and contribution to expanding the canon. Their portraits accentuate and celebrate features associated with Black bodies whilst sometimes infusing cultural and sociopolitical elements which broaden the reading of their works beyond the “cool” or pure aesthetics to integrate subjectivity. Each portrait captures a gaze, an essence, a state, a spirit, an emotion, or the feelings of individuals whose simple existence deserves to be immortalized so that tomorrow there shall be no gaps about today. Thus, the act of painting Black figures and celebrating Blackness through portraiture today can also be perceived as political. The exhibition will be on view until August 21st. If you’ll be visiting during this time, please stop by 😊 Works featured: Slide 2: Bara Sketchbook, The male age grade (2022), acrylic on canvas, 30/30cm Slide 3: Sesse Elangwe, Untitled (2022), acrylic on canvas, 127/127cm Slide 4: Idris Habib, Adjarat (2021), acrylic and pencil on canvas, 150/120cm Email or DM for inquiries. #ArtCurator #SesseElangwe #Barasketchbook #idrishabib #193gallery #contemporaryart #africanart #portraits #beautiful #colorful #contemporaryafricanart #figurativeart #portraiture #BwoArt #blackart #venice #venicebiennale