This masterful painting is from an ongoing series titled Hoodoo Assassins, which refers to an army of real and imaginary women created by American artist Renée Stout to protect a symbolic space she calls “The Parallel Universe” to find refuge during the past years of police violence and the resurgence of White supremacist terrorism. Her subjects channel the personas of subversive individuals who project a self-possession that exudes strength and resolve. Stout says, “while we may be in this mess, we don’t have to succumb to it and allow ourselves to be of it.” Stout grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she received her B.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University. In 1985, she moved to Washington, D.C. and began to explore the spiritual roots of her African American heritage through her work. Eventually, Stout became the first American artist to exhibit in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. By combining personal experience from her immediate environment with inspiration drawn from belief systems of the African Diaspora and its descendants, Stout creates work that encourages self-betterment through examination, empowerment, and healing. The painting style is realistic, but with colors that are rich and saturated enhanced by the textured paper which emphasizes the stunning African American woman against a chalky-white background. She wears a Magenta pink jacket with a stylized leopard print pattern and deep maroon trim along the edges. Her hair is styled in a high, elaborate updo with a hint of teal coloring sparkling with small, pearl-like embellishments which match her earrings and necklace displaying a ruby red and gold heart-shaped drop. Her beautiful large eyes are focused directly on us and draw our attention despite the perfection of her clear caramel skin, manicured eyebrows, perfect nose, and large slightly-smiling lips with muted rouge. Her beauty, elegance, confidence, and direct gaze all demand -- and earn -- our attention.

Hoodoo Assassin # 6 (the Chameleon) by Renée Stout (American) - Oil on handmade paper / 2019 - High Museum of Art (Atlanta, Georgia) #womeninart #art #womanartist #oilpainting #portrait #womensart #reneestout #HighMuseumofArt #artwork #fineart #africanamericanartist #blackwoman #africanamericanart