Apr 30, 2025
The essence of Sahara Longe
On view now at the AGO, Longe’s Police Man captures the subtleties of a fraught moment
Sahara Longe. Police Man, 2023. Oil on linen, 240 × 200 cm. Purchase, with funds from Friends of Global Africa & the Diaspora, 2023. © Sahara Longe, courtesy of the artist and Timothy Taylor. 2023/172.
When artists set out to depict a real-life event, sometimes omitting fine detail is the best stylistic choice to capture the essence of a moment. For figurative painter Sahara Longe, simplicity is a powerful tool that helps distill the core qualities of the figures, personalities and interactions portrayed throughout her work. In 2023, the artist witnessed a boisterous public argument outside her South London studio that prompted police intervention and a small audience of passersby. Her distinct interpretation of that moment – Police Man (2023) – is on view now at the AGO as part of the focused presentation of works, Critical Views: Recent Acquisitions by the Department of Arts of Global Africa & the Diaspora.
Located on level 2 of the AGO in gallery 234, the massive two-panel oil painting done on thick-grained linen spans nearly eight feet wide and seven feet tall. Against a striking blue background, Longe depicts 10 semi-abstract, flat-edged figures evenly distributed across both panels. Toward the centre left is a cluster of figures representing the police-deescalated argument that she observed in South London. The two figures in conflict and six passersby are all dressed in white, while the two police are in blue. Longe offers no delineation between their monochromatic articles of clothing, creating a robe-like effect that adds a spiritual or ghostly quality to the figures. Though their facial detail is minimal, the subtle variations in their expressions still illustrate a fraught and uncomfortable moment.
A presentation organized by the AGO’s department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora, Critical Views is a selection of recent acquisitions by contemporary artists. Featuring works by Longe, Preston Pavlis, Marie-Hélène Cauvin and Manuel Mathieu, this installation illustrates their distinct ways of expressing a multiplicity of histories, contested identities and cultural perspectives. The broad range of visual tropes and subjects in these works offer a glimpse into the multifaceted contemporary experiences of Africa and its diasporas, and the complexities of Black life.
A 31-year-old British painter of English and Sierra Leonean descent, Longe fell in love with painting at 12 after a visit to the Nation Portrait Gallery in London. She began moulding the foundations of her artistic voice in high school, painting portraits of her friends and experimenting stylistically. After a brief stint as a history major, Longe was accepted into the prestigious Florentine atelier Charles H. Studio, where she studied live model portraiture and traditional oil painting for four years. Since then, Longe has received global acclaim for her unique style of soft, flat-edged portraits that distill the essence of their subjects with very little detail. In 2023, she was one of 11 artists commissioned by King Charles III to contribute portraits honouring pioneering members of Britain’s Windrush Generation. Longe is set to mount her first institutional solo exhibition at the Arnolfini in Bristol, UK this summer.
Police Man is on view now on level 2 of the AGO as part of the ongoing focused presentation of works, Critical Views: Recent Acquisitions by the Department of Arts of Global Africa & the Diaspora.
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