“I’m interested in the politics of representation and documentation. Much of my paintings reference past archives, images and videos that would not typically appear in contemporary art contexts. I’m painting from my own perspective and confronting people to look at narratives, histories and images that have traditionally been left out of art canons.” —Madelynn Mae Green

The artist with her work

A student of political science in the US before she moved to the UK to study art at Central Saint Martins, Madelynn Green’s practice is rooted in the themes of memory, family and domesticity. Capturing the ambiguity of fading memories, Green’s canvases present alternate visions of reality. Faces are blurred, occasionally obscured, and each work encapsulates the painterly attempt to capture fleeting emotions of “tenderness, nostalgia, memory, and loss”. Sentimentality, although never explicit, irredeemably permeates each piece.

Biking captures a young girl at the threshold of her door about to take her bicycle out for a ride. Her candyfloss pink outfit melts into the saccharine pink glow bathing the trees, the car, the suburban driveway: a moment of sweet, fleeting childhood joy. Green’s works embody such under-represented histories, incorporating family photographs and archival video and photo footage. Growing up in the American midwest and south shaped Green’s vision, with photography a key aspect of black artistic traditions because of its accessibility, which allowed black people to create their own images in the face of political, historical, cultural and economic disenfranchisement.

Green is represented by Almine Rech and her work was acquired by the UK Government Art Collection in 2019.

Image of the artist’s studio
Vanessa Murrell © DATEAGLE ART 2019
- Provenance
  TAFETA, London
  Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2018