The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure

“There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now,” wrote James Baldwin. Coordinated with the coinciding exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, The Time is Always Now is edited by Ekow Eshun, curator and former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

This book showcases 22 contemporary African diasporic artists from the United Kingdom and the United States, whose practices emphasize the Black figure through mediums such as painting, drawing, and sculpture. It acknowledges the paradox of race and celebrates the increased cultural visibility of these works. The three-part structure examines Black figuration as a means to address the absence and distortion of Black presence in Western art history. Each artist is profiled and their included works are reproduced, complemented by original essays from experts Dorothy Price, Bernardine Evaristo, and Esi Edugyan.

Artists include: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Noah Davis, Godfried Donkor, Kimathi Donkor, Denzil Forrester, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, Chris Ofili, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Jennifer Packer, Thomas J. Price, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Lorna Simpson, Amy Sherald, Henry Taylor, Barbara Walker.