(In)Visible Bodies

About

(In)Visible Bodies addresses the hyper(in)visibility of women and non-binary artists from the African and Caribbean Diaspora. The project encompasses an exhibition and public programme that crosses over multiple spaces, both artist-led and art institution.

This exhibition is centred around the exploration of performativity and black diasporic identity in relation to site and place. Within this scope, there is a particular focus on cross-disciplinary practice and art as activism. (In)Visible Bodies begins to delve into how the artists employ performativity, movement, and sound as a form of reclamation, re-embodiment, and resistance. In doing so, attempting to collectively reframe representations of the black femme body.

Through the use of the gallery and The Reading Room, the curator seeks a sense of balance by addressing the intrinsic relationship between the history, present, and future as an entry point to engage with the idea of Diaspora. Jade Montserrat looks back to the 20th-century; whilst Rebekah Ubuntu reimagines within a decolonial and utopian future. This is balanced through Jade Foster’s site-specific, and ephemeral live performance, which only manifests and activates within the moment.

Jade Foster considers their curatorial work as an extension of their artistic practice and is currently developing a new commission titled Blackbirds II - a durational performance and sound documentary.

Jade Montserrat’s archive and collection of work from her continual, widespread Rainbow Tribe research allow us to understand her creative trajectory and development to date. Through a retrospective approach, a curated installation is presented at four/four as a new commission incorporating: compendia, posters, manifestos, maps, drawings, plans, and scores.

Rebekah Ubuntu has been commissioned to create the final installment in a series that began with the premiere of Are you there? for Transpose: The Future in December 2018 at the Barbican Centre and recently during Cyborg at the Wellcome Collection. They will also be exhibiting It Doesn't Exist.

The Reading Room at four/four will be curated in collaboration with four/four collective and the artists to link themes within the project to wider conversations and texts around Race, Identity, and Representation within contemporary art and society.

This exhibition is funded by Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant.