“Armelle”
Elizabeth Colomba is part of a growing group of black artists who create work that draws from Western history and addresses depictions of the black body.
Colomba, who is of Martinican descent, hails from France, and currently lives and works in New York City. She creates energetic oil paintings, depicting black women in luxurious and historically-charged environments. Colomba’s work has been exhibited all over the world.
“I like the idea of placing black characters, black figures into history,” Colomba said in a recent interview. “Historically, before there was photography it was only through painting and illustrations people could be represented. And we are hardly there at all. I remember when I was a young girl I loved going to the library. Specifically I loved the art section. It was beautiful. Once I was looking through the section on classical arts and found two volumes called Black Figures in History.”
“Concetto”
“Daphne”
“Shekere Girl”
“The Portrait”
“1492”
“Mary in the Hall”