One of the leading artists working today, Isaac Julien he is internationally acclaimed for his compelling opera films and video art installations. This ambitious solo exhibition will trace the development of his pioneering work in film and video over four decades from the 80s to the present day, revealing a career that remains as fiercely experimental and politically charged as it was forty years ago. There show - from April 2023 to the Tate Britain in London – will present a selection of key works from Julien's early groundbreaking films and three-screen immersive videos made for the gallery installation, to the kaleidoscopic and sculptural multi-screen installations for which he is renowned today. Together, they explore how Julien breaks down barriers between different artistic disciplines drawing from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture.
Exhibition Isaac Julien: from the Sankofa Film and Video Collective to the latest film “Once Again”
The exhibition will open with the first experiments of Isaac Julien with moving images, produced in the context of the Sankofa Film and Video Collective. Founded by Julien in the summer of 1983 together with Martina Attille, Maureen Blackwood, Robert Crusz and Nadine Marsh-Edwards, this group of London-based art students from across the African, Asian and Caribbean diaspora played an integral role in creating the Black independent cinema in Britain.
Four works from this period will be brought together at the Tate Britain, including Julien's first film, Who Killed Colin Roach? (1983) – conceived as a response to the riots following the death of a young man at the entrance to a police station, Territories (1984), focusing on the experience of Black British in the early 80s, and This is Not An AIDS Advertisement ( 1987), an important work of LGBTQIA+ history that continues to resonate strongly today. Also featured will be the artist's pivotal film exploring black and queer desire – Looking for Langston (1989), which blends poetry and image to look into the private world of black artists and writers who were part of the Harlem Renaissance in the 20s . Julien's use of dance to articulate the movement of people across different continents, times and spaces is reflected in the pioneering three-screen film installation Western Union: Small Boats (2007) and the spectacular Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvelous Entanglement (2019). In Western Union, a series of vignettes choreographed by the renowned Russell Maliphant create a poetic reflection on African migration stories and the effects of trauma on people, buildings and monuments. Meanwhile, A Marvelous Entanglement presents a stunning performance by Balé Folclórico da Bahia filmed at the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia in Brazil, which meditates on the legacy of visionary modernist architect and designer Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992).
For the first time in Europe, the exhibition will preview theartist's latest film, Once Again…(Statues Never Die) (2022), which explores the relationship between the US collector Albert C. Barnes and the famous philosopher and cultural critic Alain Locke, known as the "father of the Harlem Renaissance". The film examines their historic relationship, its mutually formative critical dialogue, and its significant impact on their work as educators and activists on behalf of various African-American causes.
Also on display is the film installation Julien Lessons of the Hour
The exhibition will also feature Julien's acclaimed ten-screen film installation Lessons of the Hour (2019). A portrait of the life and times of self-liberated freedom fighter Frederick Douglass, this work can be seen for represent Julien's 40-year commitment to cultural activism, the politics and poetics of the image and the moral and social influence of image-making.
