Exhibition: The Time is Always Now Artists Reframe the Black Figure

A major study of the Black figure – and its representation in contemporary art.

Exploring the depiction of the Black form within portraiture, the exhibition will feature contemporary works – made between the year 2000 and today – that consider and celebrate figuration as a means of illuminating the richness and complexity of Black life.

Supported by Bank of America and curated by writer Ekow Eshun, former Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Time is Always Now seeks to question what it means to visualise the Black body. The exhibition’s title – taken from an essay on desegregation by the American author, James

Baldwin – was chosen by Eshun for its sense of urgency; a reminder that while Black artists are experiencing a moment of flourishing, that their work exists within an always-evolving artistic lineage. Through the mediums of painting, drawing and sculpture, the 55 contemporary works included in the exhibition respond to three core themes – Double Consciousness, Persistence of History and Kinship and Connection.

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.