Fly In League With The Night
Open until 26th February, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's exhibition Fly In League With The Night at Tate Britain is a must visit. The oil paintings are a combination of found images and the artist's imagination, raising questions of identity and representation. Although the figures awaken a sense of familiarity, the mostly muted colour palette with flashes of brights creates a mysterious undertone. From works from her graduation exhibition to newly created paintings, Fly In League With The Night showcases over 70 paintings from the past two decades.
Writing is key to Yiadom-Boakye’s artistic approach, as she says: “I write about the things I can’t paint and paint the things I can’t write about.” Her paintings are complimented by poetic titles like Tie the Temptress to the Trojan 2016 and To Improvise a Mountain 2018. This exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue including writing by Yiadom-Boakye, the curators of the exhibition, and the American poet and writer Elizabeth Alexander.
The London born artist is from Ghanaian descent, and in 2019 participated in the critically acclaimed Ghana Freedom pavilion at the International Venice Biennale. In 2018 Yiadom-Boakye was awarded the prestigious Carnegie International Prize and shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2013. Lynette's work is represented in museum collections across the world.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly In League With The Night is curated by Andrea Schlieker, Director of Exhibitions and Displays, Tate Britain and Isabella Maidment, Curator of Contemporary British Art with Amy Emmerson Martin and Aïcha Mehrez, Assistant Curators. The exhibition is organised by Tate Britain in collaboration with Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, and Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly In League With The Night is supported by Denise Coates Foundation with additional support from the Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Exhibition Supporters Circle, Tate Americas Foundation, Tate International Council and Tate Patrons.