The Figurative Impulse: Return the Gaze

02.08.2023 - 03.23.2023

The Artspace launches The Figurative Impulse, a constellation of projects to include exhibitions, public art commissions, visiting artists, and public programs. As the first project in this exciting series, Return the Gaze, is an intimate group exhibition highlighting a small selection of celebrated artists whose practices reflect a deep engagement with portraiture and the figure to create new narratives about community, family, identity, place, nature, and contemporary life. Artists featured in Return the Gaze include Tizta Berhanu (Ethiopia), Cydne Jasmin Coleby (Bahamas), Shanique Emelife (Nigeria), Arjan Martins (Brazil), Zanele Muholi (South Africa), Emma Odumade (Nigeria), Tajh Rust (United States), and Cinga Samson (South Africa). 

Image: Cinga Samson, Umkhusana 1, 2021, oil on canvas; courtesy of the artist and White Cube. Photo credit: Nina Lieska.