A Bold Gaze 2022

Cornelius Annor made "A Bold Gaze" with paint, though I don't know when or where. Looking at the surface, I can really feel the making, the way the artist built it up, especially in the backdrop. There's something about the dialogue happening between those teal brushstrokes and the patterns in the sitter's clothes; they're both super present, but in different ways. Take the jacket—the fabric seems to have been collaged. Look closely, and you can see how Annor has played with this tension, letting the colors breathe and mingle, while also making sure those patterned details really pop. This push and pull makes me think of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye; both artists find ways to collapse the gap between realism and abstraction, with striking results.