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Awol Erizku — Yeshi
Awol Erizku

Yeshi

2013

Yeshi, made in 2013, presents a young Black woman posed against a vivid monochromatic background in a direct visual dialogue with the canonical Western portrait tradition. Erizku, who studied photography at Cooper Union and Yale, built his early reputation on a deceptively simple intervention: replacing the white female subjects of art-historical icons with Black and Brown women, restoring a presence that centuries of studio portraiture systematically excluded. In Yeshi, that project is carried out with compositional confidence and chromatic precision, the subject meeting the camera with a composure that refuses the passive objectification those historical sources often implied. The print's large format, measuring 101.6 by 127 centimeters, gives the work a commanding physical presence consistent with the authoritative register Erizku brings to the image. Printed as a digital chromatic print in an edition of three, Yeshi occupies a careful middle ground between the accessibility of photography and the scarcity that collectors of significant contemporary work seek. The saturated palette and the subject's direct gaze reward close looking, revealing the subtlety of lighting decisions that elevate the photograph well beyond documentary impulse and into the territory of considered picture-making. This work is currently on offer through The FLAG Art Foundation, situating it within a context that has consistently championed critical contemporary photography. Signed by the artist, the edition carries the authentication serious collectors require, and its modest run ensures meaningful rarity. As Erizku's standing in the field has grown, sustained by international exhibitions and increasing institutional attention, early works such as Yeshi have come to be understood as foundational statements in an ongoing inquiry into representation, beauty, and the politics of the photographic gaze.

Medium
Digital Chromatic print
Overall
Signed
Yes
Location
The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY

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About this work

Awol Erizku, Yeshi, 2013

Yeshi, made in 2013, presents a young Black woman posed against a vivid monochromatic background in a direct visual dialogue with the canonical Western portrait tradition. Erizku, who studied photography at Cooper Union and Yale, built his early reputation on a deceptively simple intervention: replacing the white female subjects of art-historical icons with Black and Brown women, restoring a presence that centuries of studio portraiture systematically excluded. In Yeshi, that project is carried out with compositional confidence and chromatic precision, the subject meeting the camera with a composure that refuses the passive objectification those historical sources often implied. The print's large format, measuring 101.6 by 127 centimeters, gives the work a commanding physical presence consistent with the authoritative register Erizku brings to the image. Printed as a digital chromatic print in an edition of three, Yeshi occupies a careful middle ground between the accessibility of photography and the scarcity that collectors of significant contemporary work seek. The saturated palette and the subject's direct gaze reward close looking, revealing the subtlety of lighting decisions that elevate the photograph well beyond documentary impulse and into the territory of considered picture-making. This work is currently on offer through The FLAG Art Foundation, situating it within a context that has consistently championed critical contemporary photography. Signed by the artist, the edition carries the authentication serious collectors require, and its modest run ensures meaningful rarity. As Erizku's standing in the field has grown, sustained by international exhibitions and increasing institutional attention, early works such as Yeshi have come to be understood as foundational statements in an ongoing inquiry into representation, beauty, and the politics of the photographic gaze.

Medium
Digital Chromatic print
Dimensions
overall: 101.6 x 127 cm
Year
2013
Edition
of 3
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY

Related themes

Mohn Art Collective

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