Genesis Tramaine's Faith-Driven Paintings Revive Scriptural Subjects at Almine Rech Brussels

Genesis Tramaine's exhibition 'Evidence of Grace' presented paintings that directly channel her Southern Baptist faith, contrasting with contemporary art's often ironic approach to spirituality. The Brooklyn-born artist creates Black figures through energetic combinations of oil stick, spraypaint, and brushwork, with titles like 'Prodigal Son' and 'Witnessing Grace'. Her work features inscriptions on the painting edges—some psalms, others modern phrases like 'God is not mad @ you today'—that reflect her evangelical purpose. While visual references to Jean-Michel Basquiat's art brut and Francis Bacon's portrait compositions are detectable, Tramaine's gestural marks suggest ecstatic states and visual glossolalia. Her predominantly organic, alluvial color palette emphasizes divine presence in earthly beings. The show ran from January 7 to February 27 at Almine Rech in Brussels.