Yiadom-Boakye's Controlled Elegance Slips in New York Show

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's latest solo exhibition, 'Many A Moonlit Caveat,' spans 17 drawings and 21 paintings across Jack Shainman Gallery's two Manhattan locations. The works, mostly from 2026, feel 'awfully nice'—controlled and comfortable, with familiar figures and situations. The most compelling moments occur when the artist's control slips, as in 'The Diligent Crest of Midday,' where a blue-and-white-tiled floor tilts and buckles, or 'A Cause for Pastoral Concern,' where four women with blue hair sit tensely on a museum bench. Drawings like 'Pieces of Work' and 'Alto' use partial forms to suggest movement or ecstasy. Three tart-themed paintings—'Aux Citrons,' 'Aux Myrtilles,' and 'Aux Framboises'—depict figures eating with expressions ranging from glee to regret. Yiadom-Boakye draws from imagination, memory, art history, and photographs but does not share her sources. The exhibition is on view through 31 July.