Igbo Billy (featuring Billy Porter) is a work from the artist’s African Diva Project, which explores the role of gender in African cultures and in contemporary society. Each canvas is modeled after an LP cover or promotional image featuring a Black cultural legend – typically a female music legend – wearing an African tribal mask. While these masks are traditionally danced by men – even when representing female deities or ancestors – Vendryes uses them to empower the divas, giving these dynamic female performers agency and protection by replacing their psychological masks with literal ones.
