The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure - by Ekow Eshun (Hardcover)

About the Book

"'The Time is Always Now' assembles contemporary African diasporic artists working in the UK and US whose practice foregrounds the Black figure. Published to coincide with the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, this publication explores and celebrates contemporary Black artists internationally who work within Black figuration. This visual book examines contemporary figurative artworks against a backdrop of heightened cultural visibility. Within this context, its collected paintings, drawings and sculptures take on a dual role as the accomplished work of individual artists and as a collective assertion of Black presence" -- page [4] of cover.

Book Synopsis

Black figuration and portraiture as realized in the works of Amy Sherald, Jordan Casteel and other contemporary artists

"There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now," wrote James Baldwin. Published in conjunction with the eponymous exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, The Time is Always Now is edited by curator Ekow Eshun, former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. The book brings together 22 contemporary African diasporic artists working primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States, whose practices--whether through painting, drawing or sculpture--foreground the Black figure. Acknowledging the paradox of race as both a "socially constructed fiction" and a "lived reality," as Eshun writes, The Time is Always Now celebrates these Black figurative artworks against a background of heightened cultural visibility. Through a three-part structure, this book examines Black figuration as a means to address the absence and distortion of Black presence within Western art history. Each artist receives a detailed biographical profile alongside reproductions of their included works. The catalog is also supplemented by three original essays from Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art; Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other; and Esi Edugyan, two-time Giller Prize winner for her novels Half-Blood Blues and Washington Black.
Artists include: 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, Chris Ofili, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Jennifer Packer, Thomas J. Price, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Lorna Simpson, Amy Sherald, Henry Taylor, Barbara Walker.

Review Quotes

All the works on display here are astounding from a technical perspective, and for the powerful aesthetic and emotional punch they deliver.--Olivia McEwan "Hyperallergic"

A double triumph: art that urges us to look at society differently and Black painters telling fresh stories so inventively that they are reviving the western figurative tradition.--Jackie Wullschläger "Financial Times: How To Spend It"

The final works, however, are like a few stars in the night sky--the more you stare, the more you realize how much has yet to come into view.--Clara Molot "Air Mail"

The representation of Black figures in art runs back through the centuries, but so often as a succession of models, masks, ciphers or types - only there to signify something other than themselves. The Time Is Always Now marks a momentous shift in western culture. In all of these works - made in the 21st century, by 22 great British and American artists - each Black figure is free to be their own unique and singular person.--Laura Cummings "Guardian"