In this painting, Boyd depicts the mottled figure of famous Tahitian man Omai, who was brought aboard Captain Cook's ship during his second voyage of discovery in 1773. Omai was taken to London where he was introduced to British high society and subsequently painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in the pose of the classical Roman statue Apollo Belvedere and in the robes of an indistinct 'exotic' culture.
Creating visual associations between histories of subjugation and iconographic characters, Boyd’s portrait of Omai is one in which questions of complicity are left open to closer examination.
installation view
installation view
(detail)
(detail)
(detail)
(detail)
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