In these difficult times, we need to reach across the aisle to understand what's wrong with them. One way to do that is through modern art. Today I want us to try to get to know Lubaina Himid, who the newspapers refer to as
The artist who skewers white privilege. Let's dive in.
Painter Lubaina Himid says her work is not about making something pretty. "I don't expect you to attend a show of mine and go: 'It's very beautiful'. That's not what it is," she tells BBC Culture over a video call.
I agree. That's not what it is at all. Good start - let's look deeper.
"I made a series of paintings around a French ship called the Rodeur, which sailed with captured Africans from west Africa to the Caribbean.Rather than paint hundreds of people in great distress and dying, I wanted to create something that conveyed a sense of absolute inability to understand what was happening."
Well I think she skewered it. I have absolutely no idea what is happening in the picture. So let's hear from the Tate exhibition's co-curator Michael Wellen:
"
[The bird-like woman] rests her hand on the shoulder of a seated man, who seems lost in thought – yet her presence is not necessarily reassuring or protective. Her alert yellow eyes look at us. The detail of the eye makes me want to back away, but it's too late, I'm already in the scene, sensing the tension between the figures and wondering about my own relation to them."
Exactly my thoughts too. Echoes of Rittenhouse: who do these people think they are, back away before it's too late, I'm on the scene. Let's agree this was a valuable exchange and we learnt a lot about what makes the other side crazy.