I’ve been posting drawings with hands as expressive elements. Today a work by Prinston Nnanna appeared in my inbox. Prinston is a Brooklyn-based artist who works with charcoal, coffee, and acrylic inks. According to his website, his goal is to “depict the elegance of the Black figure at the same time as reconstructing the image in which society has painted people of colour.”
Prinston Nnanna ‘‘Invisibility Cloak’’ (Something For My Niece’s to Look After), 2020 Charcoal, acrylic, ink, gouache, glitter, clear and gloss medium on hand toned paper 69 1/2 × 44 in
Nnanna’s painting reminds of a few other paintings you might recognize. The first is Klimt’s painting “The Kiss” or “Lovers” of which the full composition is this:
…but Klimt’s painting is often cropped and saturated, so we often see it like this, which more closely resembles Nnanna’s painting:
The heads and hands appear as cut out pieces of a drawing, while the fabric is a flat geometric pattern, similar to Klimt’s.
Nnanna’s figures are separated from the monochromatic background and fabric by their smooth grey shading, tones that talk not just about skin color, but also about drawing and painting as a craft. As I’m sure you know, hands and faces take some skill to create. (We have a class or two that will teach you.) The quilt, suggestive of folkart patterns, has been all but flattened into an abstract mountain shape, upon which the pieces of the figure’s head and arms emerge. The shape upon which perch this disembodied head and arms reminds me of the portrait of Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald. In this, it is as if one of the artist’s tools was scissors.
Amy Sherald’s “Michelle Obama” (cropped)
Taking another look at the artwork, I see there is a delicate halo around the figure’s head, referencing Byzantine Madonna and child icons, and Barkley L. Hendricks’ painting Lawdy Mama from 1969. (Thank you to Suzanne Walker, the League’s Art Historian for remembering the names and references I had forgotten.)
Byzantine Madonna and child; Berlinghiero BerlinghieriBarkley L. Hendricks Lawdy Mama, 1969
Speaking of scissors, there might even be a piece of Romare Bearden’s collages in the way odd pieces peek out from the blanket.
Romare Bearden
I found Prinston has done a handsome collection of portraits. I won’t be able to post them all, but you can find them on his website.
Richard Diebenkorn Diebenkorn was an American painter. His early work is associated with abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim. Wikipedia Born: April 22, 1922, Portland, OR Died: March 30, 1993, Berkeley, CA Artwork: Cityscape I, Ocean Park #54, …
Right now at the Seattle Art Museum, there’s a show of Alberto Giacometti‘s artworks. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures will be on display at SAM until October 9th. This is the second in a series of posts about Alberto Giacometti, who lived from 1901 – 1966. In the days since my last post about Alberto Giacometti’s brother …
In a V. Note from November 2016, I shared “Democracy Has Bad Taste”, and an audio interview on BBC with Grayson Perry. I’ve had pottery on the brain lately (I’m excited for our ceramics studio to open) so today I’m looping back to share some of Perry’s pottery. “What do artist’s do? They notice stuff” …
Drawing Hands: Prinston Nnanna
I’ve been posting drawings with hands as expressive elements. Today a work by Prinston Nnanna appeared in my inbox. Prinston is a Brooklyn-based artist who works with charcoal, coffee, and acrylic inks. According to his website, his goal is to “depict the elegance of the Black figure at the same time as reconstructing the image in which society has painted people of colour.”
Charcoal, acrylic, ink, gouache, glitter, clear and gloss medium on hand toned paper
69 1/2 × 44 in
Nnanna’s painting reminds of a few other paintings you might recognize. The first is Klimt’s painting “The Kiss” or “Lovers” of which the full composition is this:
…but Klimt’s painting is often cropped and saturated, so we often see it like this, which more closely resembles Nnanna’s painting:
The heads and hands appear as cut out pieces of a drawing, while the fabric is a flat geometric pattern, similar to Klimt’s.
Nnanna’s figures are separated from the monochromatic background and fabric by their smooth grey shading, tones that talk not just about skin color, but also about drawing and painting as a craft. As I’m sure you know, hands and faces take some skill to create. (We have a class or two that will teach you.) The quilt, suggestive of folkart patterns, has been all but flattened into an abstract mountain shape, upon which the pieces of the figure’s head and arms emerge. The shape upon which perch this disembodied head and arms reminds me of the portrait of Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald. In this, it is as if one of the artist’s tools was scissors.
Taking another look at the artwork, I see there is a delicate halo around the figure’s head, referencing Byzantine Madonna and child icons, and Barkley L. Hendricks’ painting Lawdy Mama from 1969. (Thank you to Suzanne Walker, the League’s Art Historian for remembering the names and references I had forgotten.)
Speaking of scissors, there might even be a piece of Romare Bearden’s collages in the way odd pieces peek out from the blanket.
I found Prinston has done a handsome collection of portraits. I won’t be able to post them all, but you can find them on his website.
Related Classes
Expressive Portraits starts 9/18
WTF Art History: Revenge of the Figure Painters starts 9/22
Head & Hands starts 9/25
Beginning Figure Drawing starts 9/30
Woodblock Portraits starts 10/19
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Sunday Comic by Karl Dyer
My Personal Thoughts on Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn Diebenkorn was an American painter. His early work is associated with abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim. Wikipedia Born: April 22, 1922, Portland, OR Died: March 30, 1993, Berkeley, CA Artwork: Cityscape I, Ocean Park #54, …
Giacometti: More about Diego
Right now at the Seattle Art Museum, there’s a show of Alberto Giacometti‘s artworks. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures will be on display at SAM until October 9th. This is the second in a series of posts about Alberto Giacometti, who lived from 1901 – 1966. In the days since my last post about Alberto Giacometti’s brother …
Grayson Perry’s Pottery
In a V. Note from November 2016, I shared “Democracy Has Bad Taste”, and an audio interview on BBC with Grayson Perry. I’ve had pottery on the brain lately (I’m excited for our ceramics studio to open) so today I’m looping back to share some of Perry’s pottery. “What do artist’s do? They notice stuff” …