Predecessors 2013

Njideka Akunyili Crosby made 'Predecessors' without a listed date using mixed media. The colors are muted, almost pastel, yet the composition feels so vital and alive. You can tell it’s a process painting, made through a building up of images and materials. The textures really get me. Up close, the piece is full of collage, photographs, and transfers that give it this incredible depth. The contrast between the flatness of the painted areas and the layered depth of the collaged sections is great. The image feels almost like a memory - it shifts and shimmers depending on how you look at it. Notice how the artist leaves a lot of the underpainting and process visible, adding to that sense of a memory coming into focus, then fading away again. I think of Romare Bearden's collage work when I look at this. Njideka is also engaging in a conversation about history, identity, and representation. Neither artist has all the answers but they're both pushing us to think about art as a way to understand who we are and where we come from.