There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now.' James BaldwinThe Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure assembles contemporary African diasporic artists working in the UK and US whose practice foregrounds the Black figure. Published to coincide with the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, this book explores the accomplished work of individual artists and celebrates a collective assertion of Black presence.Through their work in figuration, these artists are inviting a shift in the dominant art history perspective, from looking at' the Black figure via an external, objectifying gaze to seeing through' the eyes of Black artists and the figures they depict. This visual and beautifully produced book presents many of their most powerful works, alongside original essays by Ekow Eshun, Bernardine Evaristo, Esi Edugyan and Dorothy Price, and a rich collection of texts exploring Black identity. With a three-part structure containing detailed artist profiles and stunningly reproduced artworks, the publication examines Black figuration as a means to address the absence and distortion of Black presence within Western art history.