The Wick List

Viewing The Royal Academy explores art’s colonial history

The Wick Culture - Lubaina Himid RA, Naming the Money, 2004
Mixed media installation with sound, dimensions variable
National Museums Liverpool, International Slavery Museum, Gift of Lubaina Himid, 2013
Courtesy the artist, Hollybush Gardens, London and National Museums, Liverpool
© Spike Island, Bristol. Photo: Stuart Whipps

Above Lubaina Himid RA, Naming the Money, 2004 Mixed media installation with sound, dimensions variable National Museums Liverpool, International Slavery Museum, Gift of Lubaina Himid, 2013 Courtesy the artist, Hollybush Gardens, London and National Museums, Liverpool © Spike Island, Bristol. Photo: Stuart Whipps

The Wick Culture - Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA, Portrait of a Man, probably Francis Barber, c. 1770
Oil on canvas, 78.7 x 63.8 cm
The Menil Collection, Houston
Photo © Hickey-Robertson, Houston

Above Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA, Portrait of a Man, probably Francis Barber, c. 1770 Oil on canvas, 78.7 x 63.8 cm The Menil Collection, Houston Photo © Hickey-Robertson, Houston

The Wick Culture - Kerry James Marshall Hon RA, Scipio Moorhead, Portrait of Himself, 1776, 2007
Acrylic on PVC panel, 71.1 x 55.9 cm
Paul & De Gray
© Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo: James Prinz Photography

Above Kerry James Marshall Hon RA, Scipio Moorhead, Portrait of Himself, 1776, 2007 Acrylic on PVC panel, 71.1 x 55.9 cm Paul & De Gray © Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo: James Prinz Photography

The Wick Culture - Tavares Strachan, The First Supper (Galaxy Black) (detail), 2023
Bronze, black patina, gold leaf, 217.3 x 928.6 x 267.9 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Courtesy of Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland. Photo: Jonty Wilde

Above Tavares Strachan, The First Supper (Galaxy Black) (detail), 2023 Bronze, black patina, gold leaf, 217.3 x 928.6 x 267.9 cm Courtesy of the artist and Courtesy of Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland. Photo: Jonty Wilde

The Wick Culture - John Singleton Copley RA, Watson and the Shark, 1778
Oil on canvas, 183.5 x 229.6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mrs George von Lengerke Meyer
Photograph © 2024 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Above John Singleton Copley RA, Watson and the Shark, 1778 Oil on canvas, 183.5 x 229.6 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mrs George von Lengerke Meyer Photograph © 2024 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Wick Culture - J. M. W. Turner RA, Whalers, c. 1845
Oil on canvas, 91.8 x 122.6 cm
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund

Above J. M. W. Turner RA, Whalers, c. 1845 Oil on canvas, 91.8 x 122.6 cm Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund

The Wick Culture - Kara Walker Hon RA, no world, from An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters, 2010
Etching with aquatint, sugar-lift, spit-bite and drypoint on paper, 60.6 x 76.8 cm
British Museum, London
© Kara Walker, courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. and Sprüth Magers

Above Kara Walker Hon RA, no world, from An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters, 2010 Etching with aquatint, sugar-lift, spit-bite and drypoint on paper, 60.6 x 76.8 cm British Museum, London © Kara Walker, courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. and Sprüth Magers

The Wick Culture - Francis Harwood, Bust of a Man, 1758
Black stone (pietra di paragone) on a yellow Siena marble socle, 69.9 x 50.2 x 26.7 cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Digital image courtesy of Getty’s Open Content Program

Above Francis Harwood, Bust of a Man, 1758 Black stone (pietra di paragone) on a yellow Siena marble socle, 69.9 x 50.2 x 26.7 cm The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Digital image courtesy of Getty’s Open Content Program

The Wick Culture - Ellen Gallagher Hon RA, Whale Falls, 2017
Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on canvas, 188 x 202 cm
The Ekard Collection
© Ellen Gallagher
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Ernst Moritz

Above Ellen Gallagher Hon RA, Whale Falls, 2017 Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on canvas, 188 x 202 cm The Ekard Collection © Ellen Gallagher Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth Photo: Ernst Moritz

The Wick Culture - Sonia Boyce OBE RA, Lay back, keep quiet and think of what made Britain so great, 1986
Charcoal, pastel and watercolour on paper, 152.5 x 65 cm (each)
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London
© Sonia Boyce. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024

Above Sonia Boyce OBE RA, Lay back, keep quiet and think of what made Britain so great, 1986 Charcoal, pastel and watercolour on paper, 152.5 x 65 cm (each) Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © Sonia Boyce. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024

The Wick Culture - Hew Locke RA, Armada, 2017–19
Installation: wood, textile, metal, string, plastic, rubber, paper and paint, dimensions variable
Tate. Purchased with assistance from Tate International Council and with Art Fund support 2021
Courtesy the artist and Ikon Gallery. Photo: Stuart Whipps
© Hew Locke. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024

Above Hew Locke RA, Armada, 2017–19 Installation: wood, textile, metal, string, plastic, rubber, paper and paint, dimensions variable Tate. Purchased with assistance from Tate International Council and with Art Fund support 2021 Courtesy the artist and Ikon Gallery. Photo: Stuart Whipps © Hew Locke. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024

Above Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA, Portrait of a Man, probably Francis Barber, c. 1770 Oil on canvas, 78.7 x 63.8 cm The Menil Collection, Houston Photo © Hickey-Robertson, Houston

Above J. M. W. Turner RA, Whalers, c. 1845 Oil on canvas, 91.8 x 122.6 cm Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund

Above Ellen Gallagher Hon RA, Whale Falls, 2017 Oil, acrylic, ink and paper on canvas, 188 x 202 cm The Ekard Collection © Ellen Gallagher Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth Photo: Ernst Moritz

Entangled Pasts, 1768 – now: Art, Colonialism and Change

Royal Academy, Piccadilly, W1
3 February – 28 April 2024

The Royal Academy unpicks the threads that tie art to Britain’s colonial history in Entangled Pasts, drawing on its own collections and loans from other organisations. It brings together 100 artworks – spanning from the foundation of the RA in 1768 to now – to examine the role of art in shaping narratives of empire, enslavement, resistance, abolition, indenture and colonialism, while reckoning with its own complex links to these movements.

Contemporary perspectives come courtesy of artists, including Yinka Shonibare, Sonia Boyce, Barbara Walker and John Akomfrah. Among the highlights are Hew Locke’s haunting fleet of ragged ships suspended from the ceiling, reflecting the movement of people across time, and John Akomfrah’s 43-minute visual assault, Vertigo Sea, in which images of historical tragedies – from slave killings to drowned migrants – are cut with scenes from nature. Horrifying yet captivating in equal measure.