Dawn Okoro

December 16, 2019

Artist Dawn Okoro makes large bright hued pop-influenced figurative paintings centering the experiences of Black Americans. Her work metabolizes lessons from both Afropunk (which "supplants the image of punk that has long been occupied by whiteness") and Afro-futurism (a "movement that uses science, technology, and science fiction to speculate on black possibilities"). She makes formal allusions to cultural erasure by literally obscuring figures with broad strokes, which she says is "a way to resist misogynoir." Her latest body of work, Punk Noir, is a refreshing take on large scale figurative paintings, bringing a clean, crisp, graphic style to her "portraits of black musicians, filmmakers, photographers, and other creatives."

Punk Noir (install view)

In Punk Noir (install view) we see a black mannequin in a custom leather jacket and a futuristic facemask flanked by three large paintings of black women posed on bright monochrome backgrounds which have been extended beyond the canvas and onto the wall behind 2 of the pieces. The third is set off by a painted, stylized afro pick, a tool that's been in use for 6,000 years and which was repopularized in 1969 with the Black Fist Comb. In this gallery scene Okoro has effortlessly blended rowdy post-punk aesthetics, black identity politics, and minimal pop sensibilities.

Tope, acrylic and copper leaf on canvas

Move Somethin’, acrylic and gold leaf on wood panel

Move Somethin' takes its title from 2 Live Crew's 1988 hit single whose video featured highly sexualized black women in spandex rompers shaking it for the camera. In Okoro’s painting a 'video girl poses in a field of copper, obscured in places as if disappearing into the background. She uses copper for its associations with energy and conductivity as well as "to show erasure or pushing back against something, especially as a black woman in America."

Effacement, acrylic, copper leaf, sequined fabric, and zinc alloy spikes on canvas

Speak, acrylic on canvas

Speak shows a young black man, mostly silhouetted, against a field of dusky blue. He wears dreadlocks, a backwards ball cap, and a Dennis Rodman jersey, all of which operate as signifiers outside of the white American mainstream. Although the figure is gesturing emphatically, as though in the middle of a cipher or impassioned declaration, his mouth is obscured by scribbles the color of the negative space— as if anything he says will be immediately absorbed into background noise— rendering him mute.

Not A Punchline, acrylic on canvas

Dawn Okoro’s paintings are currently showing at Virago Gallery in Seattle through December 31st. Her solo show Punk Noir opens January 25th at South Dallas Cultural Center. And she has been included in A Beautiful Struggle: Black Feminist Futurism, a group show opening February 21st at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids. Give her a follow on Instagram to keep up! @dawnokoro