Adorned in an all-black ensemble — dress shoes, shirt, pants and crescent earrings complemented by stars twinkling through his makeup — Ivan Kwei `24 unveiled his exposition “Neo Noir,” at the Edith Renfrow Smith `37 Student Art Gallery. Through this collection, Kwei says he seeks to offer a fresh perspective on Blackness, inviting viewers to “reimagine what it looks like.”
The small gallery space was bustling on Feb. 19 with over thirty attendees navigating the opening-day crowd to view the artwork and chat with Kwei. The walls currently feature Kwei’s distinctive print on paper and portrait works, marked by an interplay of circles and a palette of black, gold, silver and blue.
A standout piece titled “Black Boys Look Blue” showcases a self-portrait of Kwei under a blue filter, which he says draws inspiration from the color scheme of the “Moonlight” movie poster. This work marks Kwei’s first venture into self-portraiture and was created as the final project for a class.
Kwei also cites Kehinde Wiley, the artist behind Barack Obama’s presidential portrait, as a significant influence for his exposé. “His work emphasizes the portrayal and representation of Black bodies, and I aimed to incorporate elements of that into my own,” Kwei said.
The centerpieces of the gallery and personal favorites of Kwei’s “Gaze I” and “Gaze II” depict him wearing a durag and looking over his shoulder in a diptych composed of two adjacent prints on paper, one brown and the other black. The image on the black panel features a negative and almost X-ray effect, casting the portrait in a luminous contrast against its dark background.
“The picture had a somber appeal to it in the pose and the gaze, and I wanted to lean into that a bit more by using muted colors and printing on black paper instead of light, and experimenting with different ways of presenting the image,” said Kwei.
[Kehinde Wiley’s] work emphasizes the portrayal and representation of Black bodies, and I aimed to incorporate elements of that into my own.
— Ivan Kwei `24
The two panels are also visually unified through meticulously drawn circles, straight lines and dots — a recurrent theme in the collection. “I had to do a lot of circles, and drawing them consistently was a challenge,” said Kwei.
“Neo Noir” will be on display in the Smith Gallery until March 2.
