Jamea Richmond-Edwards

Published with Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College.

This vibrantly designed volume presents a selection of works from American artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards (born 1982), who is known for her portraiture and mixed-media paintings referencing Afrofuturist, environmentalist, hip-hop and magical realist iconography. Richmond-Edwards outfits the subjects of her portraits in elaborate, colorful attire, setting them against equally decorative backgrounds. She incorporates materials such as construction paper, marker, collage and soft sculpture into her monumental works. Named after her latest series, in which the artist reimagines the hero’s journey through large-scale narrative paintings, Another World and Yet the Same combines new and old works, providing a comprehensive overview of the artist’s oeuvre.

Detroit–based artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards (born 1982) creates work in dialogue with Afrofuturism, mythology, history and Black fashion. Her vibrantly colored canvases take inspiration from the AfriCOBRA collective and are layered with collage and portraiture. This catalog follows her largest solo museum exhibition to date, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, and features a monumental painting, several large-scale paintings and a newly commissioned film. Using glitter, fabric and soft sculpture, these paintings depict the artist and her family reimagined as Egyptian deities, encountering dragons and paying homage to Indigenous leaders. The film Ancient Future uses a majorette performance superimposed against the cosmos activated by an experimental jazz soundtrack in collaboration with Richmond-Edwards’ son. The catalog features a selection of stills from the film and a gatefold of the new monumental work.