Winner of the 2024 Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize, Lubaina Himid presents two bodies of related but visually distinct work at Chelsea’s FLAG Art Foundation that both offer and challenge the appearance of order and simplicity. Himid’s ‘Strategy Paintings’ picture individuals seated at tables as they negotiate weighty problems hinted at in titles like ‘Pointless Heroism’ or ‘Bitter Battles.’ The figures’ wary eyes and each painting’s palpable tension suggest that solutions might not be found so easily. In a separate exhibition space, Himid lines the walls with sixty-four plank paintings titled ‘Aunties.’ Nearly as tall as the room itself and abundantly decorated with used materials taken from furniture, floorboards, and travel crates, the planks evoke an assembly of benevolent guardians. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 8th).
