Lynette Yiadom-BoakyeFly In League With The Night

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (b.1977) is a British artist and writer acclaimed for her enigmatic portraits of fictitious people. Her paintings often allude to historic European portraiture – notably Thomas Gainsborough, Francisco de Goya, John Singer Sargent and Edouard Manet – yet in subject matter and technique her approach is decidedly contemporary. Through her focus on the depiction of imagined black characters Yiadom-Boakye’s paintings raise important questions about identity and representation. This lavishly illustrated volume accompanies the first major survey of Yiadom-Boakye’s work at Tate Britain. Thematic essays offer indepth discussion of the development of the artist’s practice since her graduation from the Royal Academy of Art, London, in 2003 and her artwork is presented alongside her own writing and poetry. The publication positions Yiadom-Boakye’s extraordinary creative output over the past twenty years within a wider history of portraiture and representation, with particular focus on black subjects.