Howardena Pindell, Ayo Akingbade and FORECAST at Spike Island

About

Visit Spike Island on Friday 17th February for an evening preview of the new Spike Island exhibitions: Howardena Pindell: 'A New Language'; Ayo Akingbade: 'Show Me The World Mister' and Rachal Bradley with Carlo Hornilla, Tommy Howlett, Lauren Jeffery and Calum McCutcheon: 'FORECAST'.

The exhibitions wil then open to the public on Saturday 18th February. 

Howardena Pindell: A New Language 

An exhibition surveying Howardena Pindell’s six-decade-long career, from early abstract paintings to more overtly political works that tackle subjects including slavery, violence against Black and Indigenous people, and the AIDS pandemic. The show takes its title from an essay written by Pindell in the 1980s, in which she calls for ‘a new language’ for people of colour working in the arts—one which ‘empowers us and does not cause us to participate in our own disenfranchisement’.

A New Language is organised by the Fruitmarket, Edinburgh in collaboration with Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge and Spike Island, Bristol

Ayo Akingbade: Show Me The World Mister

Show Me The World Mister is an exhibition by Ayo Akingbade comprising two new film commissions shot on location in Nigeria. The Fist is a portrait of the Guinness brewery in Lagos, where histories of colonialism, industrialisation and labour collide; while Faluyi follows protagonist Ife on a journey tracing familial legacy and mysticism in ancestral lands. Building on Akingbade’s interests in history, placemaking, legacy and power, these are her most ambitious productions to date.

Produced by Chisenhale Gallery and Spike Island, Bristol, and commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery; Spike Island; the Whitworth, The University of Manchester; BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead; and John Hansard Gallery, Southampton. The exhibition is part of the West of England Visual Arts Alliance programme, supported by Arts Council England.

Engagement Commission : FORECAST

An Engagement commission by Rachal Bradley, developed over the past year in collaboration with emerging West of England-based artists and Creative Youth Network alumni Carlo Hornilla, Tommy Howlett, Lauren Jeffery and Calum McCutcheon.

Reflecting upon the underlying functions of the psyche, the body and where these meet the reality around us, Forecast comprises a video work exploring the collective consciousness of crows and a mirrored pavilion sculpture suspended from the gallery ceiling.