In the background of this arresting painting by Michael Armitage, a surrounding frieze depicts just-visible execution scenes. Armitage’s lushly rendered output centres on narratives of politics and violence in his native East Africa, and this portrait of two nude men embracing is no different. Homosexuality is outlawed in thirty-four African countries and, as the incorporated artwork suggests, such a tender act of love is often fraught with danger. Kampala Suburb is on display as part of Whitechapel Gallery’s new exhibition, Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium.
