Identity, Power and the Gaze
The contemporary art world is currently experiencing a “seismic correction”. For too long, Black women were “sidelined, marginalized by racist, sexist, and colonial art histories”. Now, they are not only visible, but are “at the center of conversations about identity, narrative, and power in visual art”, with their work “redefining the canon in real time”. These artists use every available medium, painting, photography, sculpture, to “take back agency, craft new identities, and interrogate the gaze” of the oppressor and the audience. What unites this movement is a commitment to specific thematic principles: Self-Representation, Intersectionality, and Resistance and Healing,. This contemporary visual activism ensures that the Black woman is “finally released from the white male gaze altogether”
Themes in Contemporary Corrective Art
1
Self-Represntation
This theme focuses on reclaiming the image from a history of misrepresentation. Artists reject being rendered as historical objects, fetishized, exoticized, or ignored entirely, and instead present themselves and their subjects with dignity.
Amy Sherald’s unique technique of using stylized, grayscale skin tones in her portraits serves to “force viewers to question the visual language of race in portraiture”. Her paintings, such as her famous portrait of Michelle Obama, use vibrant backdrops to highlight the individual identity of her subjects, challenging the viewer’s reliance on skin colour as a primary marker of identity.
Mickalene Thomas engages directly with art history by remixing its most iconic images in her rhinestone-encrusted portraits. Her work operates as both a critique and a radical reimagining of visual culture. By placing Black figures in historically white, opulent settings, her work celebrates Black femininity, sexuality, and joy.
2
Intersectionality
Intersectionality addresses how race, gender, sexuality, and class intersect in lived experience,. These artists move beyond single-issue feminism to address the specific experiences of Black women who exist at multiple oppressed intersections.
Zanele Muholi is a self-described “visual activist” whose photography centers Black LGBTQ+ lives in South Africa. Through their striking portraits, Muholi provides “dignity, visibility, and agency to subjects too often erased from history”. This practice ensures that complex identities that often face triple oppression are given a visible and central place in the global art discourse.
Simone Leigh’s sculptures and installations fuse architectural form with the Black female body. Her landmark project at the Venice Biennale demonstrated how her work can “put Black womanhood at the center of international art discourse,” honoring resilience and care. This work elevates the complex experience of Black womanhood, making it the subject of monumental, global recognition.
3
Resistance and Healing
Art is used as a tool for both protest and restoration, confronting historical violence while offering pathways for communal and personal restoration.
In contrast to artists focused on celebration, Kara Walker uses her monumental cut-paper silhouettes and installations to delve into historical trauma. Her work, which explores race, gender, and power, forces viewers to “reckon with the violence and complexity of American history”, often using parody and satire to confront difficult subjects like slavery and sexism,. While this approach has drawn criticism for its depiction of stereotypes, her intent is to compel viewers to face uncomfortable truths about the past.