Vanishing: Freedom, erasure and transcendence in Black magical realist art

This article explores the transformative power of ‘vanishing’ in Black magical realist art, focusing on artists who reframe and critically engage with erasure, displacement and misrepresentation to critique colonial legacies and racial oppression. By examining works by Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Alberta Whittle, John Akomfrah, Ellen Gallagher, Hew Locke and others, the article highlights how Black artists use magical realism to confront and reimagine histories of displacement and invisibility. The trope of vanishing, often seen as erasure, is reframed as a pathway to freedom from oppressive narratives and the colonial gaze. Through speculative fiction, art and theory, this study investigates how artists subvert racialized visibility, offering new forms of liberation, transcendence and counter-hegemonic discourse.