Hip Hop in Portrait:
Lest you thought the National Portrait Gallery (my favorite museum in our nation’s capitol) is all oil-on-canvas, dead-white-dudes-on-horses, their new exhibition is called "Recognize! Hip Hop in Contemporary Portraiture."
Since its inception in the late 1970s, hip hop has become hugely influential in America.
While images of hip hop performers are as pervasive in our culture
as the music itself, some visual artists have created powerful images that both
celebrate and explore the complexity of this creative form. The six artists and
one poet whose work is included in RECOGNIZE! have approached hip hop
culture through the lens of portraiture, and, in combination, their contributions
highlight its vitality and beauty.
How contemporary of them. I love it. They’ve even got a little flickr group going.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been out that way but this may be a good reason to head back.