Art Dates is a new series of social art gallery-based events hosted by SHEAfriq, a Nottingham-based creative collective of woman creatives of African descent. SHEAfriq aims to provide a relaxed and casual environment for art lovers and non-art lovers alike to interact and engage in fruitful conversation about art, followed by a creative activity over drinks.
For this session of Art Dates, we invite you to join us for the last days of Bonington Gallery’s exhibition The Accumulation of Things (curated by Adam Murray) with Joy Labinjo, one of the exhibiting artists and Saziso Phiri from SHEAfriq. They will discuss the exploration of culture and identity through art, how race and representation came to be key themes in Joy’s work, and her highlights to date as a young award-winning artist. The conversation will be followed by a Q+A and short creative activity over light refreshments.
Joy Labinjo (born 1994) is a painter living and working in Newcastle. Joy’s paintings draw on her British-Nigerian heritage and examine the complex relationship between identity, race and culture. In 2018, Labinjo was awarded with the Woon Foundation Art Prize, considered to be one of most generous prizes in the art world.
Saziso Phiri is a cultural producer and independent curator living and working in Nottingham. In 2015 she founded The Anti Gallery, a pop-up art gallery inspired by urban culture often exhibiting and engaging art in alternative gallery environments. Saziso has been a member of SHEAfriq since 2017.
THE ACCUMULATION OF THINGS
The Accumulation of Things is an exhibition curated by Adam Murray, bringing together seven artists whose work deals with shared interests of experience, circumstance and the familiar. Personal histories both real and imagined are examined through painting, photography and sculpture.
The Accumulation of Things brings together seven artists whose work deals with shared interests of experience, circumstance and the familiar. Personal histories, both real and imagined, are examined through painting, photography and sculpture.
Aditya Babbar’s photographs capture the complexities of interpersonal relationships by the creation of meticulously directed portraits. His compositions are littered with evidence, from the decor to the posture of the subjects, all the while suggesting at a possible narrative beyond the picture.
Stories, or snippets of stories are told through the language of painting and drawing by Joe Bloom. He invites the viewer to use elements presented before them, together with their own interpretation and experiences, to make decisions on the connotations of the composition.
Photographer Julie Greve’s work takes the form of portraits and staged visual scenarios made in collaboration with groups of girls. Born and raised in a small town in Denmark, a lot of Julie’s work focuses on the areas in which she grew up.
Alicia Jalloul’s sculptures address the paradoxes that exist with the crossing between cultures, whilst Joy Labinjo draws on her British-Nigerian heritage, inviting the viewer to step into preliminary drawings saturated with colours, patterns and people, reconfigured from her family photograph albums.
Evie O’Connor explores class and identify in her works, and her textiles background has heavily informed the stylistic and decorative qualities within her work. She imagines both a beautiful and droll environment, explored through familiar domestic environments. Max Prus produces figurative drawings and paintings, telling stories with complex narratives representing culture and society.
Exhibition curated by Adam Murray. Adam is a lecturer, photographer and curator based in Manchester. He is co-founder of photography collective Preston is my Paris, and most recently he co-curated North: Fashioning Identity with Lou Stoppard at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool and Somerset House, London.
Special thanks goes to John A Stephens Ltd. for supplying materials for this exhibition.
Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Max Prus, Firm Friends, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joy Labinjo. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joy Labinjo, On the bus, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joy Labinjo, Untitled, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joe Bloom, Expanse, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Julie Greve, L-R: Katrine, 2017; Martine, 2017; Laura Emilie, 2017; Astrid, 2017; Cecilie, 2018; Stine, 2018; Sonja, 2017; Marie, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Aditya Babbar, The Arch, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, A familiar setting, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Alicia Jalloul, What is there, that there isn’t, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Alicia Jalloul, Hanadi, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Image has no captionEvie O’Connor, Bala Lake 1997, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, Bala Lake 1997, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, A (city blue) Ford Fiesta in the Peak District, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, A familiar setting, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, The Mermaid, Barmouth, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.
Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Max Prus, Firm Friends, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joy Labinjo. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joy Labinjo, On the bus, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joy Labinjo, Untitled, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Joe Bloom, Expanse, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Julie Greve, L-R: Katrine, 2017; Martine, 2017; Laura Emilie, 2017; Astrid, 2017; Cecilie, 2018; Stine, 2018; Sonja, 2017; Marie, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Aditya Babbar, The Arch, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, A familiar setting, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Installation view. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Julian Lister.Alicia Jalloul, What is there, that there isn’t, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Alicia Jalloul, Hanadi, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Image has no captionEvie O’Connor, Bala Lake 1997, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, Bala Lake 1997, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, A (city blue) Ford Fiesta in the Peak District, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, A familiar setting, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.Evie O’Connor, The Mermaid, Barmouth, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Julian Lister.
