By Guest Writer Beverly Aarons
The Women, The Paper, and The Light, a portrait art show by George C. Jennings Jr., is a lush, intimate exploration of Black women’s ancient beauty. On exhibit until February 2, 2025, at ARTE NOIR Gallery in Seattle, WA, this series of digital portraits, printed on metal, stands as an exemplar of how digital art, in the hands of a master, can achieve the lifelike qualities typically associated with oil painting.
A view from the exhibit, The Women, The Paper, and The Light.
The warmth is the first thing I noticed in this portrait series. There’s a soft, gentle glow, as if each face, neck, and shoulder is sun-kissed. In so much digital portraiture, artists fail to capture the complexity of human skin, and digital tools like auto-blending and airbrushing can produce cartoonish results. But Jennings doesn’t fall into this trap. From a distance, the skin looks so realistic that it might be mistaken for a photograph. But upon closer examination, the detailing reveals itself: carefully articulated dips and peaks and lines composed in such a way that I could almost feel the texture. Then there’s the color, the reddish-brown hue in nearly every portrait, whether it’s the deep undertone of a dark brown cheek or a light dusting upon tawny lips, this color contributes to the exhibition’s overall cohesion.
In the portrait Aramis, the model is rendered from a low-angle perspective and framed by a blue and yellow nimbus, her long, heavy locs set alight with golden tributaries. Every portrait in this series rests upon a nimbus—whether an obvious halo, like the one in Aramis, or a square or rectangle like the background of Shalika 2. The significance of this symbol depicted with Black subjects cannot be overstated. In European art during the Byzantine, Medieval, and Renaissance eras, the nimbus or halo was often reserved for gods, emperors, mythological figures, and saints. By using this symbol with Black women, Jennings continues the Ethiopian and Nubian tradition of depicting Black figures with nimbuses, honoring their dignity and divinity. Leveraging this visual language, Jennings subtly challenges the racist and sexist narratives of who is considered worthy of sanctification and reverence. But he doesn’t simply revere his subjects. By using the square and rectangular halos commonly seen in Byzantine-era portraits depicting living saints and significant contemporary figures, Jennings places his subjects firmly in the present, as significant individuals who are making an impact today.
Aramis by George C. Jennings.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, most Western portraits portrayed Black women as objects—secondary figures who served as accessories to a central white character (e.g. Édouard Manet’s Olympia and Frédéric Bazille’s La Toilette). In contrast, Jennings disrupts this visual narrative by placing Black women front and center, sometimes rendering them larger than life and forcing the viewer to confront and reevaluate their own assumptions about who holds significance and power. For Black viewers, Jennings’ portrait series, printed on metal, serves as a mirror reflecting back an affirmation of Black womanhood’s beauty, importance, and divinity. George Jennings’ choice of metal prints is significant because of its reflectivity, durability, and luxuriousness. Each portrait has a shimmery quality to it, creating a celestial aura that makes the subjects appear almost otherworldly and transcendent. The rugged nature of metal ensures that these portraits endure as lasting symbols, meant to be appreciated by many generations to come.
"By using the square and rectangular halos commonly seen in Byzantine-era portraits depicting living saints and significant contemporary figures, Jennings places his subjects firmly in the present, as significant individuals who are making an impact today."
Much like his contemporaries Kehinde Wiley and Mickalene Thomas, Jennings reframes Black womanhood within a modern context, reclaiming symbolism and colors historically used to reinforce oppressive hierarchies. Blue, traditionally associated with royalty, power, and divinity, is woven throughout Jennings’ portrait series; appearing sparingly in circlets or generously in floral motifs etched into halos and tendrils of hair. These blue hues, whether subtle or bold, amplify the sense of tranquility and ethereal beauty in each subject. Paired with the warm reddish-brown tones that anchor each portrait, blue serves as a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds, crafting a space that feels both intimate and transcendent. While Wiley’s vibrant colors and floral motifs evoke power and Thomas’ opulent patterns celebrate glamour, Jennings’ palette of various blues invokes a meditative serenity. In the context of contemporary trends encouraging self-love and self-care, this focus on peace and spirituality speaks to a cultural shift among many Black women, making Jennings' work both timely and culturally resonant.
Karen by George C. Jennings.
Originally an oil and acrylic painter, George Jennings transitioned to digital art primarily because of its flexibility. In The Women, The Paper, and The Light, he pushes beyond the assumed limitations of digital art, treating each pixel like a brushstroke, and ensuring that no detail is overlooked. This meticulous approach, combined with his choice of metal as a medium, creates an interplay between light and shadow that adds depth and three-dimensionality to every contour, bump, and ripple. In one particularly striking portrait, Jennings captures the subject’s face with a lifelike realism. The glistening of her eyes and slippery texture of her lip gloss adds a sense of vibrancy, youth, and innocence, and the precise rendering of her curly twists feels natural and dynamic, as if her hair is gently swaying. This portrayal of youthful innocence, rarely seen in representations of young Black women in mainstream art, underscores Jennings’ commitment to celebrating Black identity in its fullest, most tender forms.
Jennings’ exhibition arrives at a moment when the art world—and society as a whole—are increasingly recognizing the need for diverse and nuanced representation. By centering Black women in his work and composing them alongside historically exclusive symbolism such as nimbuses and celestial imagery—symbols once reserved for gods and saints—Jennings contributes to the broader cultural conversation about what representation should look like for Black women. Furthermore, the spiritual and meditative elements within his portraits align with current cultural trends that emphasize healing, self-love, self-empowerment, and spiritual growth within Black womanhood. The Women, The Paper, and The Light is a call to the community to reimagine the ways we view, celebrate, and honor Black womanhood.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beverly Aarons. Photo credit: Donna Day
Beverly Aarons is a writer, artist, and game developer. She works across disciplines, exploring the intersections of history, hidden current realities, and imagined future worlds. She specializes in making unseen perspectives visible and aims to infuse all of her creative work with a deep sense of emotionality. She’s won the Guy A. Hanks, Marvin H. Miller Screenwriting Award, Community 4Culture Fellowship, Artist Trust GAP Award, 4Culture Creative Consultancies Award, and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture smART Ventures grant. She was an ARTS at King Street Station Resident in 2021/2022, and her visual art has been exhibited at Studio 103 and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. She’s currently producing a play about the future of human migration in collaboration with ShoreLake Arts, and she’s publishing Artists Up Close, a monthly e-magazine/newsletter that features in-depth and intimate profiles of emerging and established artists in the Seattle area and beyond.
Learn more about Beverly and her work here.
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