-
Green Chalk Striped Suit, 2017 © Mahtab Hussain
Exhibition
Mahtab Hussain: You Get Me?
12 Jan 2018 – 24 Mar 2018
Regular hours
- Friday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Saturday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Sunday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Tuesday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Wednesday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Thursday
- 10:00 – 17:00
Cost of entry
FREE ENTRY
Address
- Centenary Square
- Bradford
- BD1 1SD
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- For further information on local bus routes and times please visit the Metro website (www.wymetro.com).
- By rail and bus Bradford Interchange is five minutes walk away from Impressions Gallery, with rail, bus and taxi services all under one roof. Bradford Interchange is only a 20-minute direct journey from Leeds station with links to the rest of the country.
Mahtab Hussain’s photographs explore the critical question of identity among young working-class British Asian men and boys. This is the first time that this acclaimed exhibition from Autograph ABP has been seen outside London.
About
Hussain’s starting point for the project was the question, ‘what does it mean to be a British Muslim male today?’ Over a nine-year period, he photographed in Birmingham – where he grew up – stopping individuals in the street and starting conversations as he took their portrait. He later expanded the project to London and Nottingham.The men depicted in his portraits identify as Muslim, and expressed they felt ridiculed by the constant flow of negative media representation of their lives. The title of the exhibition is a phrase that Hussain repeatedly heard in his conversations with the young men. ‘You get me?’ is an urban street expression that can sometimes be used in an aggressive way, but also expresses vulnerability and uncertainty: Do you understand me? Do you know where I’m coming from?
Presented with quotes in the voices of the young men themselves, each of the 24 large-scale portraits in the exhibition tells a unique story of boyhood and manhood. Together, they present a collective picture on how these young men negotiate masculinity, self-esteem, social identity and religion in a multi-cultural society.
Mahtab Hussain said, ‘These young men face unemployment, discrimination, and racism. Yet, they identify with Britain and have a strong sense of Britishness. I didn’t want to make portraits that made you feel sorry for these young men. I wanted to show that despite the pressures, these men have still found a way to hold themselves up as proud and dignified people, albeit with complex and often conflicting identities’.
You Get Me? is curated by Dr Mark Sealy at Autograph ABP. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
