Culture

Lubaina Himid at Tate Modern

Lubaina Himid (Zanzibar 1954) is a British artist creates in Art, along her carrier, o uncovering marginalized and silenced histories, figures and cultural moments. From the British Black arts movement of the 1980s until the victory of the Turner Prize in 2017.
Tate Modern, London, has scheduled the largest solo exhibition dedicated to Himid, incorporating new paintings and significant highlights from across her remarkable career: Lubaina Himid”, 25/11/2021 – 3/7/2021.
Over 50 works among painting, everyday objects, poetic texts and sound from the early installations (A Fashionable Marriage 1984, Le Rodeur 2016-18) to new paintings created during lockdown exhibited for the first time.
Himid said: “I have always thought of my work as starting when people get to see it. For me nothing starts until then”.
Throughout her career, Himid has explored and expanded the possibilities of storytelling, encouraging the viewer to become an active participant in her work. About this topic different artworks try to involve the attendance opening their mind, but at the same time to create immersive and conceptual environments.
A major highlight of the exhibition is the presence of sound installations, including Blue Grid Test 2020, created by Himid in collaboration with artist Magda Stawarska-Beavan. Displayed in the UK for the first time, this 25-metre-long painting features 64 patterns from all over the world, each painted a different shade of blue on top of a variety of objects pinned to the gallery walls. Coupled with a sound installation layering instrumental music with Himid’s voice, the work creates a visual and sonic embrace. Reflecting on this idea, Himid asks visitors: “What does love sound like?”.
The show culminates in a group of recent paintings and painted objects, which centre on extraordinary moments of everyday life which are rarely portrayed. The series Men in Drawers 2017-19 features tender portraits of imaginary figures inside vintage wooden furniture, while works like Cover the Surface 2019 depict intimate interactions and moments of indecision between men.
Himid also continues to explore women’s creativity in her recent paintings, including The Operating Table 2019, which places visitors among a group of women in the throes of conversation and planning. With each painting the artist asks us to consider “What happens now?”.

Lubaina Himid
25 November 2021 – 3 July 2022
Tate Modern
Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Supported by John J. Studzinksi CBE, with additional support from the Lubaina Himid Exhibition Supporters Circle, Tate Americas Foundation and Tate Patrons.
Open daily 10.00 – 18.00

by Alain Chivilò
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