May 11

May 11 Tawny Chatmon's Regal Scenes of Black Mothers and Children

Castles, from the series The Redemption, 2019, © Tawny Chatmon. Courtesy of the Artist and Galerie Myrtis. — *Castles,* from the series The Redemption, 2019, © Tawny Chatmon. Courtesy of the Artist and Galerie Myrtis.

Tawny Chatmon’s Inheritance, one of Fotografiska New York’s inaugural exhibits for 2019-2020, looks at the majesty and beauty of Black motherhood and children, which feels perfect to write about on Mother’s Day. Chatmon, a photography-based artist frames Black womxn and children as regal subjects in grand portraits involving elements of paint, digital collage, illustration, and gold leaf. The artist, a mother of three children, seeks to celebrate Blackness through the lens of 15th-19th century-inspired portraiture, and elevating Black figures that’ve historically been under-represented in Western portraiture.

I saw Inheritance in late January, and walking through the exhibit felt like entering a sacred space, a serene sanctuary to meditate on Blackness. Inheritance includes works from Chatmon’s series, The Awakening, Byzantine Contempo, and The Redemption, which all combined created an almost superior energy —almost holy. The gilded portraits elegantly popped on the walls, which were painted a deep shade of royal blue. In the photographs, gorgeous chocolate-skinned Black womxn dressed in queenly garments were depicted as ethereal and goddess-like. And the children, resembled young princes and princesses about to ascend the throne. The Maryland-based artist emphasized an array of natural hairstyles, including twists, locs, braids, cornrows, and afros worn by the subjects to reinforce Black cultural pride.

Inheritance is the visual healing and therapy I didn’t think i needed before we entered these anxious and unsetting times.