Renee Cox

"One of the most controversial African-American artists working today, Renee Cox has used her own body, both nude and clothe, to celebrate black womanhood and criticize a society she often views as racist and sexist."

She was born on October 16, 1960, in Colgate, Jamaica, into an upper middle-class family, who later settled in Scarsdale, New York. Cox's first ambition was to become a filmmaker. "I was always interested in the visual," she said in one interview. "But I had a baby boomer reaction and was into the immediate gratification of photography as opposed to film, which is a more laborious project."

I love Renee Cox work. I think that her work is edgy and rude. She isn't afraid to confront and issue and doesn't shy around what she means. Formally her work is beautiful as well. Her compositions are always interesting, even with the figures in the center, the negative space around them becomes intriguing. I think my favorite series is the Yo Mamma series. These images show mothers as powerful women, and not as the purposeless nurturing mothers we see in so many renaissance paintings. Her images are nothing like those of Mary Cassat, she is bringing the image some justice. I like the Flipping the Script series for this same reason. I lover her take on classical images and how she updates them, adds race and gender issues.

http://www.reneecox.net/index.html