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Have you ever imagined famous icons such as Winston Churchill, Princess Diana and Kate Moss as black people? Adelaide Damoah did and she created an entire art exhibition based on the concept - the Black Brits. Adelaide talks to Diamond Touch Magazine about endometriosis and the source of her inspiration.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a chronic condition which causes pain, sometimes extreme pain in the womb mostly during and sometimes outside of the menstrual period. It can cause infertility if not found and managed early enough. Current figures from the National Endometriosis Society show that it affects approximately 2 million women in the UK today. Average time to diagnose is 8 years, which means that by the time of diagnosis some women are already experiencing major complications such as infertility.
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Trevor McDonald and Princess Diana, what two things do they both have in common? The answer: they are both British stars whose pictures have been painted by artist Adelaide Damoah. What’s special about these portraits is the fact that Adelaide paints black icons white and white icons black. "I needed to do an exhibition," states the 30 year old. "And I did not think that random faces painted by an unknown self taught artist would attract any interest, and being Black and British, I decided to look at British icons, and what it meant to be an icon in the UK."
"I discussed with close friends what Princess Diana and Naomi Campbell would look like with reversed skin colours and the conversation progressed to whether or not they would still be icons."
The bright, career-driven daughter of British immigrant Ghanaian parents had her sights on the corporate ladder until her ambition and her life abruptly changed direction.
In February this year Adelaide Damoah staged her first exhibition. Black Brits was rather unusual. Fascinated by faces since childhood, Damoah had been chewing over ideas for a theme for a series of portraits. She started wondering if celebrated British icons such as Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher, Sir Winston Churchill, Joan Collins - the list goes on - would have achieved iconic status had their skin been black.
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These portraits might be in colour but they all about the differences between black and white. There are among 30 paintings of British icons being shown in Islington this month.
Black Brits is a series of portraits - including David Beckham, Sir Trevor McDonald and Ken Livingstone - by 29 year old Adelaide Damoah. She says: "I have reversed their skin complexions to pose the question would they have achieved iconic status if their skin was a different colour?"
If David Beckham were a black man, as misguided broadcaster Paul McKenzie claimed during a Channel Four documentary in 2003, would the England Football captain be as successful as he is?
Adelaide Damoah, a 29-year old self-taught painter, poses the question in a tought-provoking exhibition coming to north London's trendy Islington area later this month.
The presentation, called Black Brits, features portraits of known faces such as Beckham, Kate Moss, Michael Caine and Liam Gallagher, tinted with Black skin, while African Caribbean personalities, including Floella Benjamin, Chris Eubank and Trevor McDonald are painted with white faces.
Her Black Brits exhibition represents icons like Princess Diana and David Beckham as black people. "I wanted to make a big impact and was interested to see what Princess Diana would look like as a black person," said the 29-year old. After successfully completing her Biology degree in 1999 Damoah became a medical representative until she developed endometriosis. While recovering she took to painting and art then became a focal point of her life.
The Black Brits collection focuses on altering the faces of British icons without changing their features. Damoah's depiction of former news reader as a white person aims to gauge whether the British public think of people as a certain colour or whether they are more influenced by what they do. The bespoke artist's works promises to shock and intrigue by invading the human subconscious and effectively stimulate a response from each visitor to the exhibition.
The debut exhibition of a Grays artist is encouraging the public to think differently about their favourite icons and celebrities. Adelaide Damoah, 29, is launching her first solo exhibition, named Black Brits, at the end of February.
Adelaide wants the exhibition to question how the British public react to seeing their favourite celebs with different coloured skin. Adelaide said: "The subject of my paintings is topical and will ask the public to look at the icons in a completely new way."
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