NEW YORK, NY.- In partnership with visionary curator Destinee Ross-Sutton, Christie’s is presenting “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud),” a virtual selling exhibition dedicated to the promotion and empowerment of Black art. The exhibition, which is open from July 31 – August 18, spotlights 22 Black artists who each explore the notion of identity and perception, providing them with a global platform for the celebration and amplification of their work. Named for the 1968 James Brown anthem “Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” this exhibition marks the first of a series of exhibitions and educational initiatives organized by Christie’s CSR Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives that will provide a necessary platform for the Black Art community’s voices to be amplified and empowered. The exhibition may be viewed here.

All works are available for sale via the artists and their representatives. All parties interested in individual works may email sayitloud@christies.com to be put into direct touch with the appropriate artist contact. 100% of the sale price of each work will go to the respective artist.

Christie’s is partnering with acclaimed curator Destinee Ross-Sutton on this exhibition. Ms. Ross-Sutton has co-curated and curated successful international group exhibitions at renowned institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) and CFHILL, Stockholm, Sweden. Independently, she advises several private institutions and international collectors on acquisitions of contemporary art with a focus on African and African American art. In her eyes, “showing a wide range of opinions, voices, and countless expressions of beauty is essential in a world where compassion and connection is needed now more than ever” (D. Ross, quoted in exh. cat., Black Voices/Black Microcosm, 8 April-9 May 2020).

Incorporating deeply personal aspects, each of these artists uses their mediums as guiding forces to construct images of identity – whether it be their own, a society or an overlooked community – in order to empower voices that have traditionally been silenced.

The vulnerability of identity is showcased in these works, either conspicuously, as with the work of both Josh Paige, who depicts Black men with targets on their bodies, and Nelson Makamo who confronts Black stereotypes head-on, or more subtly, as with as the work of Yoyo Lander and Barry Yusufu who evoke universal emotionality and the vulnerability of time and progress respectively.




Among the exhibition highlights is Nelson Makamo’s Untitled, from Blue Series, 2020. Johannesburg based Artist Nelson Makamo is best known for his charcoal and oil paintings of young women, men and children who are redressing decades of images that have perpetuated the stereotype that African people are destitute; his work provides a source of hope and optimism. For approximately sixteen years since he received his formal training at Artist Proof studios in Johannesburg, Makamo has been committed to distracting from that demeaning image by portraying African people in a manner that reverses this type of thinking.

Makamo’s work has always depicted a sense of desire for freedom of existence, a freedom which seems foreign to the majority of black and brown communities across the world - due to both the systematic and direct violence that the black community is experiencing across the world historically as well as today. Home sick at home and Blue represent some of the themes that Makamo is deeply exploring in his studio at the moment, by creating figures that inspire and disseminate optimism during these trying times for black communities globally.
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Artist Yoyo Lander is represented by two works in the exhibition including The Deeper Longing is Greater Than Discomfort, 2020, which is pictured right. Lander’s works prove to inhabit a distinct contrast in shade and color. She achieves this by painting in watercolors and collaging her own works together – repurposing them into fragile portraits of identity. The vulnerability is palpable, but strength overrides any trepidation one might find within her works.

n 2018 Lander began to think about ideas surrounding vulnerability and what it means for people of color, particularly, black women. She decided to name the series Time Off. Her work Have Tears Sometimes tackles the same idea, but for black men. These series marked a shift in Yoyo Lander's artistic approach, in which the context now plays a significant role in the depiction of the individual(s).

The exhibition also features Collins Obijiaku’s Untitled, 2020 – which is a prime example of the artist’s celebration of blackness through elegantly constructed portraits. Through their gaze, the viewer is to be transported into a world where black people exist as themselves, innately elegant and unfazed by the world and its never-ending constructs. Obijiaku has a notable relationship with lines; his brushstrokes are seemingly topographic, taking the viewer into a landscape of the wonder and magic of the visage.

As these artists play upon perception, they call attention to the historical perception of “Blackness” and put it on its head, ambitiously challenging the viewer to redefine their pre-conceived and systematically taught notions of Black perception and identity. Exhibited works live in their own self-constructed worlds, urging us to confront perceptions of Black identity, the value we place on the healing conversations and commitments necessary to move our society forward.