Exhibition
Sokari Douglas Camp: Primavera
7 Apr 2016 – 14 May 2016
Event times
Tues -Sat - 12.30 - 17.30
Cost of entry
Free
Address
- 24 Old Gloucester Street
- London
- WC1N 3AL
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- Tube: Holborn/Russell Square
Major new sculptures by British-Nigerian artist Sokari Douglas Camp, focused on reinterpreting canonical works of art in steel.
About
Internationally renowned sculptor, Sokari Douglas Camp, creates her works primarily in steel. Her often large-scale sculptures make frequent reference to her Nigerian roots, at the same time, encompassing contemporary international issues. Douglas Camp studied fine art at the Central School of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art. She has represented Britain and Nigeria in a number of exhibitions and has had more than 40 solo shows worldwide. Her work is in the permanent collections of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo and the British Museum, London.
Primavera brings together major new sculptures which focus on the reinterpretation of familiar figures from the European classical tradition. The large work Europe supported by Africa and America, recreates and adapts an 18th century engraving by William Blake. This intricate composition features three female figures touching and supporting each other, dressed in contemporary clothing remnant of high fashion in Nigeria. The central figure holds a long wreath which grows into a fuel hose – the whole composition offers a wry commentary on social issues and their ramifications for wider environmental concerns. Other works reconfigure detailed scenes adapted from well-known Botticelli paintings, in which the instantly recognisable figures metamorphose into more modern icons of contemporary culture and society.