The Coverts, 2022, is part of Lebanese-Finnish artist Yasmina Nysten’s Black Market series. This piece leads the viewer into the realm of secrecy and introspection of people illegally working in the black market such as the three men it depicts The painting's rich treatment of light and shade, namely the chiaroscuro effect, adds drama to a scene charged with suspense, further enhancing its clandestine mood. Although the color palette is vibrant and borderline fluorescent, the overarching aura is subdued. The imagery’s complexity is enriched by textural details, mainly that of the three men’s colored trench coats. Nysten’s expressive and interrupted  brushwork is a means of storytelling: the black patches add depth while the more subtle and light-colored strokes allow for the dynamicity and fleetingness of the painting’s scene. 

The notion of “hiding” contrasts with the scene set in a presumably public area, making ‘the coverts’ - or the three men engaging in a secret activity - even more mysterious and suspicious as they are gathered in the open. The three characters huddle against each other as they stand in the shadows of the buildings surrounding them. Their hunched postures show them quietly congregating while in assembly. The men's vibrant coats stand out in the confines of the frame, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that heightens how closed off the group is from the setting. While their identities are obscured because of their faces being concealed or turned to the side, their actual presence and that of illicit activities being carried out are clearly evident. 

The painting is a sensory and psychological representation of the reality Nysten depicts in the Black Market series. The artist is interested in understanding the behavioral codes that define the operating manners and mannerisms of those working within the shadows of the black-market system. The men’s posture and body language eloquently shows their belonging to a world of concealment and secrecy. It serves as a visual metaphor for the hidden nature of the black market and the way that engaging in certain activities molds how humans behave in public. Their postures, hushed and secretive, speak volumes about the clandestine world they inhabit, and the ways in which illegality is physically maneuvered in the open.