By the Midnight of Son 2021

Lanise Howard’s painting, By the Midnight of Son, conjures up a world with a dreamy palette of blues, browns and greens. It is a world that’s built through layers. Look at how Howard renders the figure: the colour is built up through careful gradations. It is about process. The surface is like skin, stretched and alive. You can feel the surface moving; look especially at the shoulders. There is a real sensitivity to the medium here. The painting reminds me of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye in its celebration of blackness and use of imagined narratives. Both artists allow for ambiguity, and the possibility of multiple meanings and interpretations. The beauty of art lies not in fixed meanings, but in the conversations it starts and the worlds it opens up.