LUBAINA HIMID

Street Sellers is Himid’s frst gallery exhibition in the United States in over 15 years, and will debut a new cycle of paintingsalongside works on paper and domestic objects. The ten figurative paintings affirm the dignity of work through depictionsof street vendors who ply their wares, outfitted with the tools of their particular trade and seen on a grand scale. Here thegenre of the full-length portrait—the domain of aristocrats and monarchs—is recast with new protagonists, shown lost inthought yet fully at one with their respective métiers. Asserting the centrality of Black subjects to art historical arenas longdenied them, Himid contends that she is ‘not a painter in the strictest sense,’ but rather ‘a political strategist who uses avisual language to encourage conversation, argument, change.’

Following on the critical acclaim of her major survey at Tate Modern in 2021–22, the salience of Himid’s work continues tobe recognised in institutional exhibitions in the UK and beyond. Just this spring, three London museums featured her workin concurrent historical presentations: Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy, Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in theUK 1970–90 at Tate Britain, and The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure at The National Portrait Gallery.Himid is also the recipient of this year’s FLAG Art Foundation and Maria Lassnig Prizes, which are accompanied by soloexhibitions in Austin (on view through July 21), New York (opening September 2024), and Beijing (forthcoming in 2025).

Press release courtesy Greene Naftali