The reality is the picture, not exactly what is in the picture

I’m going to write about Frank Bowling and the DeLuxe Show of 1971 and then relate it to my own experiences as a contemporary artist now. Taking into account, both the contextual and practical sides of art. This essay embarks on an examination of the symbiotic relationship between my work as a young contemporary mixed-race artist challenging the abstract nature of Blackness. A matrix of identifications that is both real and unreal, and the shifting expressions of 20th-century Black art, particularly rooted in the 1970s. The exploration delves into the nuanced dialogue between navigating the complexities of the 21st century, and the relation to the expressions of black artists from the socially charged of the 20th century.