Women of Art History: Lubaina

Lubaina Himid. 1954-. Britain 
Artist and activist.

How many artists can you name? Chances are, you'll have named many more men than women. From the moment we are children, most of the artists and artworks we are exposed to are created by or about men. It's time to rebalance the scales and open up the artistic 'canon', introducing more women and ethnic minorities into the widely known narrative of art history. Here, I'll be trying to do just that in the style of a children's story, introducing you to one more woman from art and art history who, until now, you might not have known. 

Once upon a time, a little girl lived in a house surrounded by fabrics and colours. Lubaina Himid’s mother was a textile designer, who was constantly looking at patterns, designs and shapes. Lubaina started looking too and realised she had her own artistic skills.

When Lubaina went to university, she studied theatre design and cultural history. These subjects gave her a lot of exciting knowledge. She knew how to build things in 3D, which means it’s not just a flat painting but stands up by itself. She also thought a lot about people’s backgrounds, where they come from and what that means.

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Lubaina is black and as a young woman she thought a lot about the place of a black woman in Britain. She thought a lot about women in art and history. She thought a lot about black people in art and history. Lubaina noticed there were hardly any famous black female artists and she wanted to do something to change this.

With her passion for art, she began creating artworks that could talk about and challenge the place of black women in society.

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In the 1980s, Lubaina started to become well-known for her life-size cut outs. They were made of huge bits of cardboard and were cut out in the shape of people and could stand up all by themselves. Lubaina would fill art galleries with these cardboard people. They were so different from just a flat painting on the wall, they could surround their viewers. Lubaina didn’t want gallery visitors to be able to walk away from what she was saying. She wanted people to look at her artwork and really think about it.

Lubaina Himid, Naming the Money, 2004

You might have heard of William Hogarth who is a very famous white English male artist from the 1700s. Hogarth is one of the most famous English artists ever and Lubaina liked his paintings. But she wanted to show not all famous artists have to be white men!

William Hogarth, Marriage A La Mode, 1743

So, in 1986, Lubaina made a huge artwork called A Fashionable Marriage. In it, Lubaina copied one of Hogarth’s paintings about an unhappy marriage. Instead of a painting, Lubaina made all the characters big cardboard cut outs. In Hogarth’s painting, there weren’t any black people, so Lubaina made one of the characters a black female artist, standing right in the middle of the room, the most important character.

Lubaina Himid, A Fashionable Marriage, 1986

Lubaina’s work was also very political. She made one of the characters in her piece Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister at the time, and covered her dress in bananas to say she had slipped up a lot with all her mistakes!

Lubaina’s work celebrated black creativity and challenged the idea that only white men could create important British art. Lubaina also organised exhibitions to help other black artists who weren’t able to exhibit elsewhere. So, she isn’t just an artist but a cultural activist, which means she is always trying to bring about positive change in our society and how we view art.

Lubaina has been recognised for her work helping art become more inclusive and exciting. She received an MBE, an honour from the Queen, for her services to black women’s art. She also became the first woman of colour to receive the Turner prize in 2017, a really important prize for amazing artists.

Just like when her mum picked out beautiful fabrics, Lubaina lives in a house surrounded by interesting objects, brightly coloured materials and wood carvings. She loves to ‘hear’ the stories of the objects around her.

 Nowadays, Lubaina is living happily ever after, as a professor at a university in England, teaching art to future generations.

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