Four joyous girls in Harlem: how Lorraine O’Grady showed that art is for everyone
By Katy Hessel
1 Aug 2022
In the second of our new series about artworks by women that have relevance to today’s news, our writer pays tribute to an artist who, like the England Women’s football team, set out to inspire young girls.
Responding to a comment by a “non-artist acquaintance” that “avant-garde art doesn’t have anything to do with Black people” – and to prove that it did – in September 1983, artist Lorraine O’Grady took her camera to the “largest Black space she could think of” – the African American Day Parade in Harlem, New York, to document the crowds for her series Art Is … Hiring a gold fabric-covered float, complete with a giant gilded frame, O’Grady instructed 15 actors and dancers, all dressed in white, to reach out to the excited onlookers and have them pose inside empty gold picture frames.
With her camera, under the glittering sunlight, O’Grady shot celebratory images of people
of all different ages and myriad personalities, ranging from energetic locals to those in a moment of reflection, taking everything in. But it is the group of young girls in Girlfriends Times Two, smiling from ear to ear with their hands gripped tight to the gold edges – confidently showing that they belong in these frames – that I find the most joyous.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched Sarina Wiegman’s unstoppable England team thrill the nation in the Women’s Euros. There was the 95th-minute long-range goal by Georgia Stanway, which clinched their spot in the semi-final, Alessia Russo’s backheel to secure the Lionesses’s place in the final, and last night Ella Toone’s epic lob giving them the initial lead in the final, and then Chloe Kelly’s goal securing England as the triumphant and deserved win. It’s all been documented by the team’s official photographer, Lynne Cameron, who has captured the euphoria of their success, from the aftermath of Fran Kirby’s momentous goal to Rachel Daly storming the pitch in celebration. ( … )