SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

This study will use critical visual analysis in written form to demonstrate that the representation of Black Women in Western visual culture has seen little progress over an extensive-time period. Western culture has seated Black Women low on the social hierarchy, as they not only face challenges from sexism but also racism. This study has selected two time periods, sixteenth to nineteenth century and post 2000s, and two separate forms of visual culture that have been popular in the West during those time periods, traditional oil paintings and advertising. Critical visual analysis is then used to analyze the images according to three artistic themes, composition, skin tones, and social context. After analysis, this study has concluded that Black Women are still portrayed in stereotypical ways including themes of animalization, physical placement, objectification, domestication, and colorism. Further exploration and examination of these points highlight the need for social change in how Black Women continue to be represented in Western culture.