A Hurvin Anderson retrospective exhibition of his paintings was held at Tate Britain 26 March – 23 August 2026. The accompanying catalogue featured several texts, including a short one by Eddie Chambers, reflecting on one of Anderson's paintings, Peter's Sitters II. Extracts as follows:
Hurvin Anderson’s work commands our attention for the masterful and remarkable ways in which his paintings tell wonderful stories that are themselves arresting combinations or fusions of figurative and non-figurative elements. As a longtime admirer of Anderson’s work I find myself drawn time and again to his barber shopr elated paintings, the first of which dates back to 2006 and which were executed over the next several years. A number of artists, photographers and playwrights have taken the Black barbershop as their subject, and it rightly and necessarily occupies a place of central importance in the lives of Black men globally, but particularly within the Diaspora. 1 Together with the Black church, the Black barbershop represents an unbroken line between the Windrush Generation and the continued evolution of Black Britain in the twenty-first century.
But Anderson’s barbershop explorations are extraordinary renderings that are considerations of light, form, composition and colour as much as they are considerations of affirmative spaces for Black masculinity. Like all the paintings in Anderson’s series, Peter’s Sitters II achieves the – in some respects unlikely – combination of being an investigation into colour, shape and form, and an unsentimental exploration of this culturally and socially charged space, that is the Black barbershop. However, unlike the other paintings in the Peter’s series – accomplished arrangements of objects and space, in which wonderful depths of field are achieved – Peter’s Sitters II is marked by a deceptive compositional frugality that speaks to Anderson’s gift for making paintings that capture our attention and encourage us to create stories and deepen our appreciation of his craft.
... One of the defining aspects that differentiates Peter’s Sitters II from Anderson’s other barbershop-related paintings from 2006 onwards is the artist’s use of the compositional device of the Rückenfigur (a German word literally translating as ‘back-figure’ or ‘figure from the back’). 5 Although we might not always be conscious or aware of the device, Rückenfigur appears not infrequently in visual art forms such as painting, photography and cinema, and occurs when a solitary and dominant figure is depicted from behind in the foreground of said image or film clip, contemplating the view before them, or consciously positioned with their back to the viewer. Thus, Rückenfigur might deepen a mystery relating to the person being depicted, or might invite or stimulate the viewer’s identification with that individual.
We know pretty much nothing about the young man in Peter’s Sitters II, beyond that he is getting a haircut – yet by withholding his face from us, Anderson is able to deepen the sense of mystery and solitude that the figure evokes. Even though the sitter’s head is slightly tilted towards his chest and he may well be looking at nothing in particular, the painting exudes and encourages second-order observation, in which the sitter’s thoughts and expectations become the viewer’s thoughts and expectations. A haircut might signify routine grooming, but it’s also possible that the young man is prepping himself to look his best for a job interview, a romantic encounter or a night spent raving (to use an old school term). Peter’s Sitters II represents an opportunity for the viewer to consider speculative aspects of the life of this otherwise anonymous young man.