A collection of writings by Eddie Chambers, one of Britain's most controversial critics and curators. This collection maps out a key period of post-war British art which saw the emergence of an important generation of black British artists and curators who changed the face of the British art scene.
Set against the backdrop of the Blitz in London, the story revolves around a young boy whose life is irrevocably altered by a bomb explosion on October 21, 1940. The narrative unfolds two years later, capturing the impact of war on innocence and the lasting scars it leaves. Through the boy's journey, the book explores themes of resilience, loss, and the haunting memories of a city in turmoil.
This catalogue accompanies reporting back, Hurvin Anderson's exhibition of work at Ikon Gallery. The most comprehensive publication of Hurvin Anderson's work to date. Published to coincide with this mid-career survey reporting back illustrates works from throughout the artist's career, including work made shortly after graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1998 to works created especially for the exhibition. Including essays by Eddie Chambers and Jennifer Higgie.
First history of Black artists & black art in Britain Black british artists like Ofili & McQueen are very popular and highly respected. *Students on a variety of courses and general readers will want to read this.
How did a distinct and powerful Black British identity emerge? In the 1950s, when many Caribbean migrants came to Britain, there was no such recognised entity as "Black Britain." Yet by the 1980s, the cultural landscape had radically changed, and a remarkable array of creative practices such as theatre, poetry, literature, music and the visual arts gave voice to striking new articulations of Black-British identity. This new book chronicles the extraordinary blend of social, political and cultural influences from the mid-1950s to late 1970s that gave rise to new heights of Black-British artistic expression in the 1980s. Eddie Chambers relates how and why during these decades "West Indians" became "Afro-Caribbeans," and how in turn "Afro-Caribbeans" became "Black-British" - and the centrality of the arts to this important narrative. The British Empire, migration, Rastafari, the Anti-Apartheid struggle, reggae music, dub poetry, the ascendance of the West Indies cricket team and the coming of Margaret Thatcher - all of these factors, and others, have had a part to play in the compelling story of how the African Diaspora transformed itself to give rise to Black Britain.