Very excited to see our team work closely with @aindreaemelife to bring her show to life...opening May 12th preview for our Patron Fotografiska members and to the public May 13th... BLACK VENUS, opening at @fotografiska.newyork on May 12, surveys the legacy of Black women in visual culture – from fetishized, colonial-era caricatures, to the present-day reclamation of the rich complexity of Black womanhood by 19 artists (of numerous nationalities and with birth years spanning 1942 to 1997). Juxtaposed against archival depictions of Black women dating back to 1793, the contemporary works on view – mostly photography, but also including sculpture; mixed- media; and film – collectively create a global, cross-generational investigation into Black women’s reclamation of agency amid the historical fetishization of the Black female body In the words of Ms Emelife: 📢 Rather than simply putting forth a compelling grouping of contemporary talent, I wanted to establish a legacy. By looking at early images, we identify the beginning of the othering of Black women. In a contemporary age, where Black women are finally being allowed to claim agency over the way their own image is seen, it is important to track how we have reached this moment. In looking through these images, in different stages of history - we are confronted with a mirror of the political and socio-economic understandings of Black women at the time, and what they were allowed to be. The most contemporary examples in the show are unabashed, riotous affronts showcasing all the Black womanhood can be and has always been.