Photo courtesy of Yolanda Hoskey, (True American series), 2024
A Black man in a red thong curls up on a cream-colored loveseat crinkling the clear vinyl slipcover, an ode to a decades-old tradition of protecting furniture with plastic casings, and a subtle nod to Yolanda Hoskey’s upbringing.
Hoskey, a multidisciplinary artist, grew up poor and Black in the projects of East New York. Fueled by frustration surrounding her cultural identity and grappling with what it meant to be a Black woman in a family with roots in the South, Hoskey embarked on the photo project, True American.
The ongoing series consists of documentary-style photographs that portray Black Americans in highly stylized environments. The images combine mundane elements of the human experience with hyperrealism to provide a nuanced look at the intersection of race, class and patriotism in America. As as one of this year’s fellows, Hoskey’s work will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at the Magnum Foundation entitled “A Tapestry of Aliveness” on display starting in early January.
Inspired by the works of James Baldwin and W.E.B. Du Bois, Hoskey created her series to shed light on the dual consciousness endured by Black Americans. The visual narrative project is rooted in celebration of the Black experience while analyzing the complexities that exist between racial and national identities in the U.S. As the dust settles on a tumultuous election season, Hoskey’s work challenges preconceived notions of what it means to be both Black and American in a politically divided country.
The first portrait in her series depicts Kortnei Garrett nearly nude in a full face of pageant glam with bright cerulean eyeshadow, a matching blue waterline and a bold red lip perched in front of a life-sized American flag with a tiara atop his head. “It’s my personal mission within my artwork to show Black people as non-monolithic,” said Hoskey.
“I can find a number of examples where the contributions of Black folk have been erased from the narrative in this country and it brings up the question, can you have pride in this flag and in this country knowing the history as it relates to Black America?”
Artist Yolanda Hoskey poses. (Credit: Dana Binfet)
Margarita Lila Rosa, a curator and historian, aims to introduce new faces to the contemporary art market seeking out those who’re pushing the envelope and defining high art of the next generation. Rosa featured Hoskey’s work in two of her exhibitions over the past year and champions the distinct lens that Hoskey brings to her photographs.
“I had never seen Yolanda’s work before, but once I saw it, she was an immediate pick for me because of the suggestive power of the gaze she introduces time and time again,” said Rosa. “That gaze allows you to ask more questions, and in that way, her models are really actors, she has this unique ability to capture a moment, and a question, as opposed to just a scene.”
Hoskey’s pieces are infused with playful moments and little bits of personality that give a glimpse into the real people whose likeness is captured in a dramatized setting. With a red and white bedspread, striped fingernail designs, a sweeping makeshift skirt and a star-spangled necklace pendant, Hoskey incorporated the American flag into every photo in the True American series. The deliberate flag placement invites conversation and aims to challenge the audience’s understanding of a nationally recognizable symbol.
“If you go into a neighborhood and you see that the blocks are lined with American flags, you get a little apprehensive, because you don’t know who occupies these spaces,” said Hoskey. “You can see with the current election how the flag is weaponized to divide or pull us closer together, because the flag means different things to us in this country.”
Hoskey’s piece is displayed on a billboard above Messmer Street in Williamsburg Heights, Milwaukee. (Photo courtesy: SaveArtSpace.Org)
In mid-July during the Republican National Convention, an art installation featured one of Hoskey’s pieces on a billboard above Messmer Street in Williamsburg Heights, Milwaukee. Curated by Michele Pred in partnership with the non-profit organization SaveArtSpace, the urban art gallery showcased political artwork on billboard ad spaces across the city.
Political billboards date back to the early 1900’s with early advertisements related to the suffrage movement and prohibition eras. It wasn’t until the late 1980’s that billboard art became the creative medium it is today. Although these types of ads aren’t necessarily new, a recent study conducted by Donald Green, a professor of political science at Columbia University, found that voter turnout is only moderately affected by these types of displays.
“The question is, to what extent does the advertising candidate receive a bump in vote share as a result of this kind of deployment?” said Green. “The answer seems to be a little bit of an upward bump, one or two percentage points in a relatively well statewide selection.”
The billboard featured Hoskey’s portrait of Erika Norrell sitting in a chair with a sign that read “jobs not jails” over her shoulder. The piece garnered strong reactions illustrating the masterful way Hoskey constructs a scene in order to challenge a viewer’s preconceived ideals of American identities. In her artwork she plays with cultural stereotypes perpetuated by the media folding in objects rich with historical significance and juxtaposing them next to people who wouldn’t normally occupy these spaces.
“As a Black person living in America, you have to operate through these dual identities, being an American citizen, but also being a black American,” said Hoskey. “The goal of the project is not for me to tell someone what that means, the goal is for people to look within themselves and decide what it means for them.”
About the author(s)
Dana Binfet is a freelance journalist and a graduate student at Columbia School of Journalism, covering the intersection of arts, culture and social justice.