Study in Black Modernity

Study in Black Modernity , 2015-2017, installation 300 x 2300 cm, @ Van Abbemuseum, detail, (p) Peter Cox

The installation includes a series of publications from key figures within what Kensmil calls Black Modernity. These books are accompanied by a series of drawings, large and small, which reflect on the historic position of the back subject within emancipatory politics, art history, hip hop and the anti-racist and Black Lives Matter protests which have recently gained increasing visibility and traction.  For Kensmil, her style of painting and use of portraiture has a specific function. By bringing them into the European art museum she gives Black individuals, who have had a formative historic role, their place in art history.

Becoming More

Study in Black Modernity was commissioned as part of Becoming More, a ten-day caucus event comprising lectures, performances, screenings, commissions, discussions and food hosted by the Van Abbemuseum. Kensmil has been invited along with other artists to develop and co-author the caucus. Drawing on previously neglected histories and generating new work with promising artists in the Netherlands stimulates the Van Abbe to take part in a broader dialogue as a catalyst for change. In this context, Iris Kensmil has convened the program “On Experiences and Choices” on 18th and 19th of May.