Àsìkò | Derrick Adams | Gretchen Andrew | Cathrin Hoffmann | Kudzanai-Violet Hwami | Konstantina Krikzoni | Kandy G Lopez | Teoni | Otis Kwame Kye Quaico
Crooked Smile explores the complexities of beauty in contemporary culture, questioning the societal pressures and ideals that shape our understanding of the human form. The title serves as a metaphor for individuality—celebrating difference and asserting resistance against the dominant beauty standards prevalent in both cultural and digital spaces.
This exhibition brings together a diverse group of artists who challenge conventional beauty norms through various media, including painting, photography, digital art, and textiles. The works presented critique narrow ideals of beauty, emphasizing the diversity of human experience and rejecting fixed standards. At its heart, Crooked Smile raises fundamental questions: How is beauty defined? Who determines it? And how do these definitions evolve in an increasingly digital world?
The featured artists engage with beauty not as an external standard to be attained, but as a deeply personal and ever-evolving expression of identity and experience. Rejecting restrictive norms, their works present a more inclusive, fluid, and complex vision of beauty—one that celebrates imperfection, difference, and the lived realities of the body.
The exhibition seeks to make visible bodies and identities often marginalized by dominant cultural narratives. Through expressive and bold forms, many of the works subvert traditional portrayals of femininity and masculinity. For instance, fragmented figures and intimate portrayals of womanhood challenge colonial and idealized depictions of the female body, presenting beauty as a dynamic, lived experience rather than a static ideal. These representations redefine "imperfection" as an integral and authentic aspect of beauty, inviting viewers to rethink societal standards.
Similarly, the exhibition reimagines black masculinity by confronting historical and cultural stereotypes. Abstract portrayals of the black body elevate dignity, vitality, and joy, while large portraits capture a nuanced range of strength and vulnerability. These works resist reductive portrayals, celebrating Black men’s presence and beauty while addressing the historical erasure of black bodies from artistic narratives.
The exhibition also critically examines the influence of digital culture on contemporary beauty standards. Some artists interrogate how technology shapes and distorts perceptions of body image and identity. Mixed-media works disrupt the commodified beauty often promoted by social media, highlighting the impossibility of achieving digital perfection. Other digital compositions reflect the tension between the idealized virtual world and the physical reality of the human body, offering a critique of how technology mediates our understanding of beauty.
In exploring the intersections of race, gender, and digital culture, Crooked Smile also delves into themes of vulnerability and self-empowerment. Portraits of youth culture capture moments of emotional resilience, offering alternative spaces for tenderness and self-acceptance, while fluid, shifting figures highlight the evolving and transformative nature of beauty.
Ultimately, Crooked Smile challenges viewers to reconsider how they engage with the human form. By offering alternative representations of beauty that celebrate difference, complexity, and imperfection, the exhibition promotes a vision of beauty that is inclusive, diverse, and rooted in authenticity. It reminds us that beauty lies not in perfection, but in the richness of human experience and the intersection of body, identity, and self-expression.