Ekow Eshun, the curator of The Time Is Always Now, suggests that “there are more images and stories of Black people being made and told than at probably any other time in history”.
Walking around the National Portrait Gallery show, which features figurative works by 22 Black artists, his point is convincing – at least, in the global north. And it doesn’t read – as it might have even 10 years ago – as an overdue introduction to artists overlooked because of systemic biases. Instead, it feels like the recent greatest hits of its genre.
