When the Going Is Smooth and Good 2017

Njideka Akunyili Crosby made this unnamed painting sometime around now, using a mix of acrylic, collage, and who knows what else. There’s a real sense of something deeply personal happening. The palette is muted but vibrant, kind of like a faded memory trying to hold onto its color. The bodies? They’re not just painted, they’re built, layered with images that suggest stories within stories. Look closely at the figure in the dark patterned shirt—it’s like the cloth has absorbed the history of its wearer. What gets me is the ground. It's covered in what looks like photocopied images, a dense field of faces and places. It's like the whole scene is floating on a sea of memory, of cultural and personal history. I think of someone like David Hammons using found materials, but here, it’s all woven into the fabric of the painting itself. It's an ode to the process of living and seeing.