For Black History Month, Artsy is spotlighting Black artists in our feature Black-Owned Galleries Now. As part of this initiative, ARTNOIR co-founder Larry Ossei-Mensah has selected four standout works.
“It’s a multitude of incredible artists, it was hard to narrow it down! They’re being highlighted by some incredible galleries,” the curator said.
“I’ve been following Kwamé for a minute, and it’s been really interesting to watch their work evolve and grow. With this piece you see a very intimate depiction between two siblings. I love that, for me, it feels like a memory, this dreamscape that the artist has created and is inviting the viewer to participate in. For me the intimacy, immediacy, and vividness really caught my eye.”
“Many of you know I am a big lover of ceramics and clay, and it is always exciting for me for ceramicists to get their due when featured in this type of initiative. Floating Halo is a piece that caught my eye: porcelain, glaze, gold luster, beautiful shape, form.…I love the iridescence of this sculpture.”
“Karen [Jenkins-Johnson, gallery founder] is an OG. She’s been doing this for decades, really supporting Black artists and artists of color. For me, I was struck by this work by Patrick, who’s from the BX [the Bronx] just like me. He’s an abstract painter, and a lot of the recent work has been thinking about the horizon line: sunset and sunrise. Things in nature that we take for granted. Using that as a space to create artwork that is beautiful, gestural, colorful, and really stops you in your tracks.”
“April Kamunde was a discovery—I wasn’t super familiar with her work. For me, this is one of these beautiful depictions of what it means to be in a state of reflection, of self-love. The figure in this piece is almost embracing themself, looking towards the sun, being nourished by the sun. Given how tumultuous everything in the world is right now, [it’s] a moment of clarity, reflection, and communing with nature, which is often a reminder of our humanity.”
