joseph scissorhands: Like Paradise

Sunday, 26 November 2023

Like Paradise

Hurvin Anderson - Miss Sylvia, 2011 (detail).

“Like Paradise” is a profound exploration of the natural world through the lens of artists of colour. The exhibition focuses on figures of colour within scenes of nature. Typically excluded from narratives about the countryside, these visionary artists redefine the relationship between people of colour and nature. Their artworks transform landscapes into realms of hope, renewal, and liberation, portraying nature as a sanctuary of freedom."

Last year's exhibition In the Black Fantastic at the Hayward Gallery (here) curated by Ekow Eshun was a wonderful, important and timely showcase for certain contemporary black artists. It is so good to see that Eshun has curated another such exhibition albeit on a smaller scale at Claridge's Art Space, an interesting gallery space and café behind the renowned hotel. The exhibition Like Paradise showcases a further selection of present-day intergenerational black artists working in a variety of media such as paint, photography, collage and textiles with a unifying theme of placing black bodies within the landscape. I wasn't aware of the work of many of the artists featured so it was a good opportunity to acquaint myself with their practices and bodies of work. There were some particularly good paintings on display. I really admired the splashy textures in Hurvin Anderson's work. Other favourites among those exhibited were Stacey Gillian Abe's acrylic painting on canvas of blue/black figures which featured the inclusion of embroidered ears of wheat, the strongly figurative photography of David Uzochukwu and Togo Yeye, as well as the collaged works of Sharon Walters.