This painting by Alfred Conteh is one of the latest in a series titled “Two Fronts.” For this series, Conteh paints the people that he meets where he lives and works in Atlanta. He presents his subjects as they really are, yet allegory is embedded heavily within the materiality of his work. His materials include battery acid, rust and metal dust, giving the surfaces of his paintings a quality similar to that of the decaying, neglected buildings that dot the landscape of the neighborhoods captured in his paintings. This is not just an aesthetic choice, but a call for viewers to confront the reality of the world we all live in.

Says Conteh, "The way I look at my work is they're not just paintings, they're reminders. They should be reminders to everyone who looks at them, that this is the reality of Black folks in this country right now. Specifically the Black folks whose shared experience is as the descendants of slaves. You should be reminded. Me, you, and everybody who lives here as Americans. There is a group of people who are American in name, but who are not American in practice. If you have this painting on your wall, what you should say to yourself is is there are people living like this. This is their reality every day. What should I do to make these folks American just like me? If you’re white, ask what should I do to make these folks who built this country American just like me so they have the same rights, privileges and protections, just like me. When it comes to the bleakness, I want people to see themselves in this work. See that poverty, see those stresses, see the disrepair. If we're going to talk about equality in this country, let it start with me."

Artist Biography
Alfred Conteh is a painter and sculptor who was born in Fort Valley, Georgia. His mother is an African American, and his father is from Sierra Leone, West Africa. Conteh explores his identity and personal history from a number of different perspectives. He is concerned with the way African Americans are dealing with disparities that have been affecting their communities for generations, especially in the southern United States. He is also interested in the wider view of the entire African diaspora.

Conteh’s recent series of figurative paintings is titled “Two Fronts.” Grounded in the realm of portraiture, this series explores images of contemporary members of the African diaspora, placing the figures in what are often mundane environments. Conteh’s treatment of the figures, including the way he has them inhabit their surroundings, lends them a wise, gentle, heroic spiritual presence.