JA Projects designs ‘The Time is Always Now’ for the National Portrait Gallery
Throughout the history of Western art, the Black figure has been notable by absence, misrepresentation and distortion. In The Time is Always Now: Reframing the Black Figure, former ICA director Ekow Eshun presents a series of works by contemporary artists from the African diaspora that explore and illuminate the complexity of Black identity today, as well as examining the representation, misrepresentation and non-representation of the Black figure throughout art history.
Running until 19 May 2024 at the National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition’s creative direction is provided by JA Projects. Having recently designed Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy, JA Projects has built a track record of developing considered and immersive exhibitions that narratively engage with their artworks, and which go beyond the pieces on display to interrogate and reimagine the architecture of the institutions themselves.
The exhibition showcases the work of contemporary artists from the African diaspora, including Michael Armitage, Lubaina Himid, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola and Amy Sherald, and highlights the use of figures to illuminate the richness and complexity of Black life. As well as surveying the presence of the Black figure in Western art history, we examine its absence – and the story of representation told through these works, as well as the social, psychological and cultural contexts in which they were produced.
The exhibition will feature the work of leading artists including Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Noah Davis, Godfried Donkor, Kimathi Donkor, Denzil Forrester, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Chris Ofili, Jennifer Packer, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Thomas J Price, Amy Sherald, Lorna Simpson, Henry Taylor and Barbara Walker.
The Time is Always Now: Reframing the Black Figure is at the National Portrait Gallery from 22 February to 19 May 2024.
Find out more here
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Images: Curator Ekow Eshun stands within The Time is Always Now © National Portrait Gallery.
Cover image: Thomas Adank