Viewing Soulscapes gives landscape art new resonance : The Wick Culture

The Wick Culture - Jermaine Francis, A Pleasant Land J, Samuel Johnson, & the Spectre of Unrecognised Black Figures, 2023, photographic montage, 130cm x 100cm. Courtesy of Artist Jermaine Francis.

Above Jermaine Francis, A Pleasant Land J, Samuel Johnson, & the Spectre of Unrecognised Black Figures, 2023, photographic montage, 130cm x 100cm. Courtesy of Artist Jermaine Francis.

The Wick Culture - Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Cassava Garden, 2015, acrylic, transfers, colour pencil, charcoal and commemorative fabric on paper, 182.88 x 152.4 cm © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo: Robert Glowacki.

Above Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Cassava Garden, 2015, acrylic, transfers, colour pencil, charcoal and commemorative fabric on paper, 182.88 x 152.4 cm © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo: Robert Glowacki.

The Wick Culture - Che Lovelace, Moonlight Searchers, acrylic and dry pigment on board panels, 2022, private collection. Courtesy of the artist, Corvi-Mora, Various Small Fires and Nicola Vassell Gallery.

Above Che Lovelace, Moonlight Searchers, acrylic and dry pigment on board panels, 2022, private collection. Courtesy of the artist, Corvi-Mora, Various Small Fires and Nicola Vassell Gallery.

The Wick Culture - Hurvin Anderson, Limestone Wall, 2020. © Hurvin Anderson. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Richard Ivey.

Above Hurvin Anderson, Limestone Wall, 2020. © Hurvin Anderson. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Richard Ivey.

The Wick Culture - Kimathi Donkor, On Episode Seven, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 76 cm Courtesy of the Artist and Niru Ratnam, London. Photo: Kimathi Donkor.

Above Kimathi Donkor, On Episode Seven, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 76 cm Courtesy of the Artist and Niru Ratnam, London. Photo: Kimathi Donkor.

The Wick Culture - Mónica de Miranda, Sunrise (detail), 2023, inkjet print on cotton paper. Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid.

Above Mónica de Miranda, Sunrise (detail), 2023, inkjet print on cotton paper. Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid.

The Wick Culture - Kimathi Mafafo, Unforeseen Journey of Self-Discovery, 2020, Hand and Machine Embroidered Fabric, 112 x 98cm. Image courtesy of the artist / Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.

Above Kimathi Mafafo, Unforeseen Journey of Self-Discovery, 2020, Hand and Machine Embroidered Fabric, 112 x 98cm. Image courtesy of the artist / Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.

Above Jermaine Francis, A Pleasant Land J, Samuel Johnson, & the Spectre of Unrecognised Black Figures, 2023, photographic montage, 130cm x 100cm. Courtesy of Artist Jermaine Francis.

Above Che Lovelace, Moonlight Searchers, acrylic and dry pigment on board panels, 2022, private collection. Courtesy of the artist, Corvi-Mora, Various Small Fires and Nicola Vassell Gallery.

Above Hurvin Anderson, Limestone Wall, 2020. © Hurvin Anderson. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Richard Ivey.

Above Kimathi Donkor, On Episode Seven, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 76 cm Courtesy of the Artist and Niru Ratnam, London. Photo: Kimathi Donkor.

Above Mónica de Miranda, Sunrise (detail), 2023, inkjet print on cotton paper. Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani Gallery, Madrid.

Above Kimathi Mafafo, Unforeseen Journey of Self-Discovery, 2020, Hand and Machine Embroidered Fabric, 112 x 98cm. Image courtesy of the artist / Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.

Soulscapes

Dulwich Picture Gallery, Dulwich Village, London SE21 7AD
14 February – 2 June 2024

See the world around you anew with a little help from Soulscapes, an exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery that is shaking up the landscape art genre. Spanning painting, photography, film, tapestry and collage, it considers our relationship to the world around us through the eyes of artists from the African diaspora – Isaac Julien, Hurvin Anderson, Phoebe Boswell and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, among them.

Hurvin Anderson evokes the lush tropical foliage of Jamaica in “Limestone Wall” (2020), which considers how we experience to the land and how this connects with our sense of self and belonging, while Kimathi Donkor’s “Idyl” series (2016-2020) shows Black subjects revelling in nature, celebrating its power to evoke joy. Themes of healing, renewal and memory also abound in the show, curated by the Black Cultural Archive’s managing director Lisa Anderson, making it a moving and sense-tingling journey.