Sahara Longe, Fall of Man, 2020
"Every one of Sahara Longe’s canvases are dripping in art historical references, in which the artist reimagines a canon long reserved for the white male gaze. Her exemplary skills with oils, honed from training at Charles H Cecil Studios in Florence, see her move effortlessly through the language and symbolism of Titian and Rubens, as well as more modern figures such as Sargent and Vuillard. While the points of connection are clear, Longe’s works move far beyond homage. By merging the marks of history with her own style, she resituates both protagonists and muses as Black figures, thus building an entirely new lexicon of art, agency and power in the process."