EVEWRIGHT: Libation

8 Jul-29 Oct 2023

Overview

‘Libation’ marks EVEWRIGHT’s first solo exhibition in a public gallery, showcasing a collection of new and seminal works spanning 20 years.

The exhibition’s title, ‘Libation’, refers to the ceremonial pouring of a liquid to pay homage to ancestors or relatives who have passed away. The ceremony is prominent in traditional Black Caribbean and African cultures not only for funerals but as a celebration of life for unions and weddings.

Striking up conversations about what it means to be Black and British in the UK today, ‘Libation’ features drawing, sculptures, digital films, photography, and recent performance all of which explore themes of migration, identity, race, class and journeys.

Works include ££Kissi Pennies$$, a series of sculptures that challenges the notion of value, currency, slavery and trade that is inspired by modern day migration and the ancient African former currency Kissi Pennies.

Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of ‘Windrush’, the exhibition also includes works which explore the resilience, identity, and determination of the Windrush generation and reflections on this nationally significant event.

EVEWRIGHT will also produce his first site-specific gallery artwork conceived for Firstsite. In the foyer and leading through into the galleries will be a floor work produced as a result of a ‘drawing performance’ commissioned by Firstsite. This will be filmed and documented in the exhibition as an artwork. This unique new work will be displayed in situ during the exhibition period for visitors to the gallery to experience and enjoy.

“This exhibition feels like a homecoming. Firstsite showed Mother’s Touch, one of my works, during Covid which was a difficult time in my life when my mother passed away. Now I am having a conversation with my ancestors recent and distant.

In fact, Firstsite is built upon archaeological remains of an original Roman city so I am looking down through history conversing also with the Moors and Roman ancestors. Libation is paying homage to all these ancestors. As a descendant of parents from the Windrush generation their influences will continue to resonate in my work, conversations and perception of my place in the world as a Black British Artist” – EVEWRIGHT, 2023.

About EVEWRIGHT:

EVEWRIGHT, is a British artist, with parentage from Jamaica. He is a multi-disciplinary visual installation artist, who challenges public environments to make spaces for Black British stories to exist and thrive.

His work is a conscious ‘mash up’ of drawing, sculpture, combined with digital film and live installations. He explores the intricate connections between the body and our experience of the modern environment, and communicates this through bold interactive art, also using urban and rural landscapes as his canvas. He creates mirrors where he can see and recognise himself to instigate conversations in the mainstream about what it means to be Black and British in the UK today.

His work encourages and broadens conversations about what it means to be Black and British in the UK today.

EVEWRIGHT work include exhibitions at The Royal Academy of Arts, BFI and Firstsite Gallery Colchester and a series of site-specific art and sound installations ‘Caribbean Takeaway Takeover’ held in Lloyds Bank London, Migration Museum London in 2019 and a Caribbean Café in Colchester in 2018.  

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