Tayo Adekunle

Vénus Noire explores the representation and sexualisation of black women in art history, Western cultural history and contemporary culture. The work aims to challenge the ways in which black women are seen and treated by taking on characters and drawing from different parts of racial history like blackface and other racial stereotypes as well as contemporary references such as the Western obsession with women with large bottoms and lips. Using self portraiture, the work acts as a contemporary reworking of tropes in visual culture, exploring Adekunle's relationship with her body and the black female body as a whole.