Output details

Conceptualising 'Black' British Art Through the Lens of Exile

This chapter provides a necessary revision of the scholarship on black British art by considering the movement from the perspective of artists Gavin Jantjes, Mona Hatoum, Mitra Tabrizian, who were on the periphery and challenges essentialist readings of black art through fixed ideas of black identity by examining the importance to the movement of art by white British and north American artists. It demonstrates originality in its use of Edward Said’s concept of exile as creative, specifically his concept of the contrapuntal to reframe the focus of the secondary literature on black British art as a concern with nationalist narratives.

This was reviewed by Ian Hunt Art Monthly July/Aug 2008, issue 318 (pp43-44), ‘Things Done Change’ Cross/ Cultures issue 44, 2012 and cited in Kobena Mercer ‘Art History and the Dialogics of Diaspora’ Small Axe vol 16, July 2012 (p219); Christine Eyene ‘Yearning for Art: South African exile, aesthetics and cultural legacy’ in Lize Van Robbroeck (ed.), Visual Century: South African art in context, 1907-2007. Volume 2 (1945-1976); Christine Eyene ‘Gavin Jantjes, Freedom Hunters(1976); Subtexts and Intertwined Narratives’ in Outi Remes and Pam Skelton (eds) Conspiracy Dwellings: Surveillance in Contemporary Art, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010; T.J. Demos ‘The Ends of Exile: Towards a Coming Universality?’ in Nicolas Bourriaud(ed) Altermodern Tate Publishing, London, 2009, pp73-88. It led to an invitation to join the network Transnational Curating (2010) Prof Deborah Swallow and participate in ‘Proximity’ in panel discussions on ‘Image Wars/Wars of Images’ alongside Hito Steyerl, the Otolith Group and Julian Stallabrass as part of Zones of Conflict 2008-09 organised by Dr T.J. Demos, UCL.