Tyler Mitchell’s exhibition Portrait of the Modern Dandy, on view at Gagosian’s Burlington Arcade in London, presents a nuanced exploration of Black identity through fashion, portraiture and visual narrative. The show marks the first public display of Mitchell’s photographs for the Superfine: Tailoring Black Style exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and coincides with the release of his debut monograph, Wish This Was Real (Aperture, 2025). Through this work, Mitchell navigates the interplay of history, style and cultural agency, foregrounding Black self-fashioning as both artistic and political practice.
Mitchell’s practice exists at the intersection of fine art, photography and fashion, a convergence that allows him to craft images of striking intimacy and elegance. His gelatin silver print The Dinner Party (2024) exemplifies this approach, reinterpreting the traditions of studio portraiture with contemporary awareness. As Mitchell told FAD Magazine earlier this year, “Fashion has always been a way for me to explore identity, history and the possibilities of the future. It’s about creating spaces where Blackness is celebrated and reimagined.” In Portrait of the Modern Dandy, he juxtaposes models in garments from Superfine: Tailoring Black Style with self-styled subjects, producing a visual dialogue that honours the historical lineage of Black dandyism alongside the contemporary rearticulation of elegance, joy and agency.
Mitchell’s work sits within a vibrant ecosystem of young Black photographers redefining contemporary visual culture. Nadine Ijewere, for example, has become celebrated for her groundbreaking editorial work that celebrates women of colour in fashion, challenging the historically Eurocentric gaze of the industry. Omar Victor Diop, through staged portraiture, interrogates identity and history in postcolonial Africa, blending costume, narrative and political commentary. Meanwhile, Harley Weir’s lens captures raw intimacy and texture, pushing the boundaries of fashion and portrait photography. Together, these artists – including Mitchell – signal a broader generational shift, one that prioritises the self-determined representation of Black subjects and the reclamation of visual space.
This resurgence of Black visual authorship resonates strongly with the discourse framed by Antwaun Sargent in The New Black Vanguard (Aperture, 2019). Sargent documents how a new group of Black photographers – including Tyler Mitchell, Nadine Ijewere, and Campbell Addy – has reshaped fashion photography by asserting both aesthetic innovation and cultural commentary. Similarly, Ekow Eshun’s In the Black Fantastic (Faber, 2020) examines how contemporary Black creatives construct worlds of possibility, blending futurism, style and storytelling to expand notions of Black identity. Mitchell’s exhibition can be read in this context – at once rooted in historical reference and forward-looking.
Portrait of the Modern Dandy emphasises the enduring power of dandyism as a form of resistance and self-fashioning. Drawing on classical European modes of dress while centring Black subjects, Mitchell’s work transforms sartorial elegance into a statement of autonomy. Each image negotiates the tension between historical precedent and contemporary identity, allowing the viewer to witness a complex spectrum of Black visual sovereignty. The exhibition shines a light on the cultural intelligence embedded in self-presentation – something that has long been overlooked in both art and fashion histories.
The broader implications of this exhibition extend into critical discussions about representation, visibility and joy. Mitchell’s photography engages in a dialogue with the legacies of earlier Black artists while pushing against reductive stereotypes. In doing so, it resonates with the ideas Sargent and Eshun articulate – that fashion, portraiture and visual storytelling are powerful tools for constructing counter-narratives and imagining expansive futures for Black subjects. By situating his work alongside other contemporary photographers, the exhibition positions Black identity as multifaceted and unapologetically expressive.
The London presentation also underscores the ongoing dialogue between photography and literature, archival research and art history. The curated selection of publications accompanying the show – including Mitchell’s own monograph, the Superfine catalogue, and key texts like Sargent’s and Eshun’s – provides viewers with context and deepens the engagement with the work. This synthesis of visual and written discourse enhances the exhibition’s impact, allowing audiences to consider how contemporary Black photographers navigate cultural inheritance while shaping new aesthetic frontiers.
Ultimately, Tyler Mitchell’s Portrait of the Modern Dandy demonstrates the significance of Black visual authorship in the 21st century. By engaging with fashion, history and portraiture, Mitchell constructs a language of elegance and agency that is both timely and timeless. In dialogue with peers such as Nadine Ijewere, Omar Victor Diop, and Harley Weir, and framed by critical texts like The New Black Vanguard and In the Black Fantastic, his work asserts the centrality of Black voices in contemporary art and photography. The exhibition not only celebrates Black style as an art form but positions Mitchell as a transformative figure whose images reverberate across the spheres of fine art, fashion and cultural discourse.
When you encounter Portrait of the Modern Dandy at Gagosian London, you are invited into a space where history, beauty and identity intersect. The show reminds us of the potency of self-fashioning as a practice of visibility and empowerment. Tyler Mitchell’s photographs reaffirm the enduring vitality of Black dandyism, situating him within a wider contemporary canon of photographers who continue to redefine how Black life and style are represented in art and fashion today. Portrait of the Modern Dandy is one of the must-see shows of this season.
Tyler Mitchell: Portrait of the Modern Dandy is at Gagosian, London until 3 October: gagosian.com
Words: Anna Müller
Image Credits:
1&5. Tyler Mitchell, Untitled (Christian in Wales Bonner Cover), 2024. Archival pigment print, in artist’s frame, 45 x 34 1/2 inches (114.3 x 87.5 cm) Edition of 3 + 2 AP © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy Gagosian.
2. Tyler Mitchell, Harlem Stoop, 2024. Gelatin silver print, in artist’s frame, 30 x 37 1/2 inches (76.2 x 95.3 cm) Edition of 3 + 2 AP © Tyler Mitchell Courtesy Gagosian.
3. Tyler Mitchell, Untitled (Abdou Shirtless), 2024. Gelatin silver print, in artist’s frame, 20 x 14 5/8 inches (50.8 x 37 cm). Edition of 3 + 2 AP © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy Gagosian.
4. Tyler Mitchell, The Dinner Party, 2024. Gelatin silver print, in artist’s frame, 30 5/8 x 48 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches (77.6 x 123 x 3.8 cm) Edition of 3 + 2 AP © Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy Gagosian.
