Since ancient times, art is the way people can talk to each other’s hearts. Contemporary art is not an exception. Today, our society still faces the problem of condemning interracial couples and relationships. Of course, a lot is being done to overcome this problem and draw the attention of people. Still, art remains a valuable form of influencing people’s minds. Today, the creators and owners of one of the most popular Interracial dating sites share examples of contemporary art that raises the problem of interracial relationships.
Printed scrolls by Holly Jefferies
Printed scrolls appeared in Carnegie Hall on 2019. The artist, Holly Jefferies, is herself a white woman who is married to a black man. Together, the couple has survived years of struggling with interracial marriage problems. And her personal experience gave Holly the power and inspiration to create the art project. The scrolls are made in black, white, and red colors and symbolically tell how interracial relationships got more and more accepted in American society. The artist brought together consciousness and poetry. On each scroll, you can read the author’s experimental writing devoted to interracial narratives from the 1800s to the 2000s. They literally represent particular time periods of racism. Each scroll consists of two sides. On the left one, you can see conscious thoughts, and the right one is devoted to poetry. Scrolls contain extracts from court cases. To create the left columns, the author deeply studied history and spent a lot of time focusing on the setting to make sure that she represents the soul of the time.
With her work, Holly Jefferies wanted to trigger more conversation on the topic and changes in society.
About the artist: Holly Jefferies got a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and also studied Master’s classes in Audience Engagement and Museum Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The artist says that her artwork is designed to raise a complex and crucial topic of race, discrimination, relationships between races, and social inequity. Holly Jefferies says that an interracial marriage shows all these difficulties in their true form. The artist highlights how important it is today to stay human in any circumstances.
The daily life of interracial families by Leslie Barlow
Another artist that creates artwork on the interracial topic is Leslie Barlow from Minneapolis. Her oil paintings are intended to show the daily life of interracial couples. The series is called Loving and shows literally very usual situations. In one picture, you can see a mom and dad looking at their kid. Another one tells the story of a family hugging. And one more picture is about a couple clutching wine glasses. The author wanted to show that interracial couples are the same as any other couple, they also have similar intimate moments, are loving, and face the same challenges. Leslie Barlow has a unique talent to show stories by using just colors and expressions. The author herself is also mixed-race, so she knows the feelings of the people she is drawing for sure. One of her paintings tells the story of her parents who were stopped and her mom was asked if she was ok sitting with a man of another race in one car. This moment shocked Leslie so much that she created her first picture.
About the author: Leslie Barlow got a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin–Stout and a Master’s degree from the Minneapolis College of Art. Initially, Leslie was an oil painter, but today she combines her work as a studio artist with the position of a cultural organizer, educator, and instructor at the University of Minnesota.
American realism painting by Amy Sherald
One more artist that is famous for showing interracial relationships is Amy Sherald. She is well known for creating the portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama. For her way of depicting reality, she became a star of contemporary American art. Amy Sherald brings a contribution to the representation of the Black people in art. When Amy was asked why she chose to be an artist, she said that she once visited a museum when she was still small and saw a painting of a Black person. She was so surprised that she wanted to become an artist and create pictures like that herself. Today, the artist lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and creates about 15 new artworks every year.