YoYo Lander: Between the Quiet

Harvey B. Gantt Center

Known for her portraits of solitary African diasporic subjects, contemporary artist YoYo Lander captures visual form via a psychological and empathetic drive to understand her subjects, not only through the features of their physical bodies but also through moments in which introspection prompts them to most fully reveal themselves. As a self-taught painter and collagist, Lander highlights the multifacetedness of Black identity while also exploring the expressive aspects of the human figure through which gesture, line, posture, and color convey meaning.

Her first mid-career retrospective, YoYo Lander: Between the Quiet, Selected Works from 2019-2024, presents a curated selection of figurative and experimental abstract collages from private and public collections around the country. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on vulnerability and the concept of presence while showcasing the ideological depth with which Lander approaches image-making.