Go behind the lens with Tawny Chatmon who shares the inspiration and making of Inheritance, an exhibition encompassing three bodies of work: The Awakening, Byzantine Contempo, and The Redemption. In these series, Chatmon celebrates the beauty of black childhood, African American culture, and the delicate intricacies of protecting and raising a black child in today’s world. Each series is a conversation on love, nurturing, and the familial bond; a commentary on the politics of blackness; the historical portrayal of the black body; and an investigation of Renaissance and Byzantine portraiture. In combating the negative stereotyping associated with natural hairstyles and adornments that are distinctively likened to black people and culture, Chatmon glorifies these various styles: afros, locs, twists, and barbershop cuts revered in black communities. Embedded within the works are messages of embracing one’s beauty and cultural pride.
Video created to be featured on SaatchiArt.com’s “One to Watch” series
Song 1- Fallen by Lina Pastel
Song 2- Bedroom Eyes by Jason St.Thomas/Audiobinger
Courtesy the artist and Galerie Myrtis
Click on the photos below to view selections from Tawny Chatmon’s exhibition Inheritance, which was on display December 14, 2019 – March 22, 2020 at Fotografiska New York.
