Jérôme Lagarrigue's powerful portraits of Brooklyn's African-American community

Jérôme has built a gallery of portraits throughout his career, with the majority of his models Brooklyn-based African-Americans. Sometimes friends, sometimes strangers, he observes and characterises the emotion and expressions in the people around him, using his distinctive visual aesthetic of expressive, wide stroke brushstrokes and deep colour tones.

His latest exhibition, Night, Landing, aims to tap into the core of what humanity is about, interrogating concepts about contemporary art, society, specifically American culture, and the space dedicated to African-Americans.

Raised in Paris, Jerome moved to the United States in 1992 and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, where he was dedicated a significant solo exhibition in 2017. He went on to become a resident of the Villa Medicis, part of the French Academy in Rome. His work was exhibited in 2016 at the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the BP Awards, and his work has is present in several international collections such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Night, Landing runs until 21 December at Gallery Olivier Waltman, Paris. For more information about the artist, visit www.jeromelagarrigue.com.