Donald Rodney: 'Visceral Canker' at Spike Island

About

Spike Island presents a major survey exhibition of late British artist Donald Rodney (b. 1961, West Bromwich; d. 1998, London).

Rodney worked across sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, and digital media, experimenting with new materials and technologies throughout his life. His work is known for being incisive, acerbic, and evocative in its analysis of the prejudices and injustices surrounding racial identity, Black masculinity, chronic illness, and Britain’s colonial past. Rodney was also co-founding member of the BLK Art Group: an association of young Black artists formed in Wolverhampton in 1982.

The exhibition at Spike Island brings together all of Rodney’s surviving works. This includes large-scale oil pastels on X-rays, kinetic and animatronic sculptures, and restaged installations, as well as sketchbooks and rare archive materials, spanning 1982 to 1997. Also on display is Autoicon (1997–2000), an interactive digital artwork initiated by Rodney and finalised by a group of his close friends after he died from sickle cell anaemia in 1998.

Tickets:
Free, donations welcome.

Times:
Monday: Gallery closed
Tuesday: Gallery closed
Wednesday: 12–5pm
Thursday: 12–5pm
Friday: 12–5pm
Saturday: 12–5pm
Sunday: 12–5pm