Njideka Akunyili Crosby at CAC @ Hyperallergic
CINCINNATI — We are saturated by media messaging. It stands to reason, then, that video and interdisciplinary art are popular contemporary art forms — the collage-like nature of those media match the constant barrage of imagery, advertising, and sensory inputs we receive on a daily basis. So where does that leave the hallowed medium of painting? How can one static image begin to capture lived experience, at a time when one might literally need to embark on a meditation retreat to truly focus on a single subject?
The work of Njideka Akunyili Crosby, currently on display in Predecessors at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, answers this question with astonishing polish and grace: You can contain many images in one. What could potentially feel like an overwhelming mishmash of imagery instead becomes a fluid tapestry, controlled by Crosby’s extraordinary sensitivity to balance, perspective, and palette.