Based in London, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye has emerged in recent years as a major talent in the international art scene, winning widespread acclaim for her large-scale, luminous portraits. Working in a luxuriously dark, muted palette offset by bursts of radiant colour, Yiadom-Boakye paints subjects from her imagination, whose stories she sometimes elaborates through short fiction. Whether with a shy smile, leering, or evading one's gaze, Yiadom Boakye's subjects consistently confront the viewer with a beguiling sense of intimacy and the implication of larger, hidden life. This volume surveys the artist's remarkable career to date through beautiful, full-page illustrations. Also featured are two critical essays that assess the artist's practice and distinctive approach to portraiture, an interview with the artist, as well as short stories by the artist that give life to her paintings. AUTHOR: Naomi Beckwith is a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Previously she served as associate curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she organized Yiadom-Boakye's first solo museum exhibition. Donatien Grau is a member of New College, University of Oxford. A contributing editor of Flash Art International, he has contributed to such publications as the Times Literary Supplement, the Oxford Art Journal, and AnOther Magazine. His most recent publication is 'The Age of Creation'. Jennifer Higgie is a co-editor of frieze magazine and the editor of 'The Artist's Joke'. She is also the author of a novel, Bedlam. 85 illustrations
