Saoirse Amira Anis: symphony for a fraying body

20 May-6 Aug 2023

Overview

This exhibition marks the first major show by Dundee-based artist Saoirse Amira Anis. 

The artist works across sculpture, performance, photography, film, writing and drawing; proudly working in all these mediums without finesse but with a lot of love. Anis's practice priortises radical care, informality, and empathy. Her work is informed by Black queer literature, her personal ancestry, and her own body as it moves through the world. She incorporates bodily knowledge and care into each facet of her work, considering the ways in which the body holds ancestral and lived memories. 

The artist's newly commissioned film gives the exhibition its title symphony for a fraying body. The moving image sits within a scupltural frame, surrounded by walls awash with colour, alongside what the artist referes to as 'detritus': the by-products from the film's creation. These remains give a sense of the film creeping out from the screen into the gallery, blurring the lines between the screen, materials and surroundings. The gallery has been crafted as a space of comfort for audiences: to rest, breathe, watch. It is the artist's intention that visitors will be encouraged to slow down and consider what if feels like to be in body in this moment in time: not alone but as a part of a community linked by shared worry, shared rage, and shared love. 

About the artist:

Saoirse Amira Anis grew up in the countryside near Lanark and is now based in Dundee. Her work has been exhibited recently in the form of a solo show at Campleline, Dumfries, and as part of the Platform commissions for the 2022 Edinburgh Art Festival. Other recent projects include: Jupiter Rising, Jupiter Artland, 2021; A Lesson in Vanity, David Dale Gallery and Lux Scotland, July 2021; and We Can Still Dance, Jupiter Artland, as part of the Black Lives Matter Mural Trail.

She recently curated Miss(ing) Information at Perth Museum and Art Gallery, an exhibition that features the work of Tayo Adekunle, Nkem Okwechime, Tako Taal and Natasha Ruwona. Since graduating from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Anis has completed residencies at Cove Park, Argyll and Bute, Hospitalfield in Arbroath, and Collemacchia, with the Museum of Loss and Renewal. She was also a committee member at GENERATORprojects from 2018-2021.