115
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Face of Britain

Pages 351-371 | Received 03 Oct 2021, Accepted 03 Oct 2021, Published online: 29 Nov 2021
 

ABSTRACT

Despite the various restrictions brought about by the Covid pandemic, Southampton City Art Gallery staged a year-long exhibition, ‘Face of Britain’ (September 2020–September 2021), curated by the artist Nahem Shoa. The exhibition brought together a number of outstanding portraits held by (or on loan to) the Gallery, of artists who painted British individuals from the seventeenth century to the present day. Importantly, however, these ‘canonical’ works from established collections were shown in confluence with a selection of Shoa’s own striking oil paintings of black sitters. In asking ‘head-to-head’ how diverse we are, it was a timely show, not least given the context of heightened debates of decolonisation, a growing acknowledgement of social inequities (further exposed by the Covid pandemic) and the newly emerging reality of a post-Brexit Britain. In this essay, Shoa offers a contextual account of the exhibition. It draws back to his development as an artist of mixed race in the early 1990s, and offers commentary on his major undertaking ‘Giant Heads’, as a means to establish just what it has meant to end up being the curator of a show entitled ‘Face of Britain’.

Nahem Shoa, Daniel Sulleiman (2008) oil on canvas, 60.8 × 50.7 cm.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nahem Shoa

Nahem Shoa is a contemporary London painter best known for his series of portraits, collectively called Giant Heads, which were painted at up to 15 times life size. He is also notable for having increased the number of portraits of Black and mixed-race British people on display in British museums.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.