BOLUWATIFE OYEDIRAN: About Face: 250 Years of American Portraits | Mattatuck Museum, United States
Current exhibition
Overview
In celebration of the country’s semiquincentennial, About Face: 250 Years of American Portraits explores American history through the images and experiences of diverse Americans. This exhibition both elaborates on and challenges the role of portraiture in asserting identity, navigating citizenship, and expressing belonging. Featuring the artwork « A Father’s Love » (2021) by Boluwatife Oyediran, which recently joined the collection, this exhibition speaks to the importance of portraiture as mode of artistic, political, and cultural expression throughout American history.
Created during a residency in Accra, Ghana, in 2021, « A Father’s Love » depicts a man holding a child in a cotton field. Through this intimate scene, Oyediran intertwines themes of care, dignity, and familial affection with the layered histories of Black labour, resilience, and cultural inheritance embedded within the landscape. Produced prior to the artist’s move to the United States, the painting reflects his early engagement with transatlantic narratives of memory and Black experience. It also exemplifies the powerful figurative language that continues to define his practice today.
About Face: 250 Years of American Portraits
Mattatuck Museum
Through August 16, 2026
144 West Main Street - Connecticut, United States
Through August 16, 2026
144 West Main Street - Connecticut, United States
Works
