Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. No Twilight Too Mighty

British artist and writer Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (b. 1977, London) is celebrated for her paintings of timeless subjects in everyday moments of happiness, comradery, and solitude. Her lush oils on canvas or coarse linen portray fictitious characters rendered in loose brushwork set against dramatic backgrounds. The artist does not work from models, rather the figures are composites, drawn from different sources including scrapbooks and drawings, memories and observations of everyday life. Details including clothing or costumes, footwear or the lack thereof dislocate the figures from any particular time or place. The paintings invite the viewer to slow down and to carefully observe; to enter the imaginary visual tales the artist spins. The poetic and thought-provoking titles of the works reinforce that much is left to the imagination of the beholder.

No Twilight Too Mighty presents a selection of over 70 paintings and charcoal drawings from 2020 to 2023 on display for the first time. The exhibition thus provides a rich opportunity to observe the continuum in the artist’s practice of creating evocative paintings that relate to the human experience. Yiadom- Boakye has recently returned to making charcoal drawings, which have a sense of immediacy given their intimate scale and air of improvisation. Seen in tandem with the paintings, the depth of the artist’s skillful handling of different media is evident.

The exhibition is organized in response to the relationships and dialogues that occur among the drawings and paintings. Visitors may enter the exhibition at any of the four galleries to view the marks, gestures and musings that make up No Twilight Too Mighty. A playlist compiled by Yiadom-Boakye specifically for this exhibition is available to visitors, providing greater context into the inspirational sources for her work.

Galleries: 201, 202, 203, 204, 208
Curator: Lekha Hileman Waitoller

On the cover: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. Many Menaces, 2022. Oil on canvas. 65 x 90 cm, 25.5 x 35.4 inches. Courtesy the artist, Corvi-Mora, London, and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Source: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao