Bloomberg New Contemporaries Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2005
Exhibited
London, Saatchi Gallery, Newspeak: British Art Now, 30 May - 17 October 2010 London, Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2004, 18 September - 23 October 2004
Literature
Newspeak: British Art Now, published by Booth-Clibborn Editions in 2010, p 38
Catalogue Essay
Ambassador, like Grammy, belongs to Boakye's first series of portrait paintings. The work's cool palette and simple, uncluttered composition lend an air of familiarity to what, on closer inspection, is a rather incongruous scene. The subject, a young woman whose crude appearance is at odds with the sophistication of both her pose and the luxurious armchair in which she is seated, is not what we might expect. Could she really be the ambassador referred to in the painting's title? Playing with notions of power and access, Boakye invites us to consider what is or is not appropriate in certain social situations.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye is a British painter who is a leader in the contemporary renaissance of portraiture. Her subjects are typically depicted with loose brushwork, floating against muted, ambiguous backgrounds that contribute to a sense of timelessness. Known for the speed of her work, she often completes a canvas in a single day and considers the physical properties of paint to be at the core of her practice.
Yiadom-Boakye was born to Ghanaian parents in London, where she continues to live and work today. In 2013, she was a finalist for the Turner Prize and she was selected for participation in the 55th Venice Biennale. In 2018, the artist won the Carnegie Prize for painting. Her work can be found in the permanent collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Studio Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others.