LONDON.- Tate Britain presents the UK’s first ever survey exhibition celebrating the influential work of British artist and filmmaker Sir Isaac Julien (b. London, 1960). One of the leading artists working today, Isaac Julien is internationally acclaimed for his compelling lyrical films and video art installations. This ambitious solo show charts the development of his pioneering work in film and video over four decades from the 1980s through to the present day, revealing a career that remains as fiercely experimental and politically charged as it was forty years ago.

The exhibition presents a selection of key works from Julien’s ground-breaking early films and immersive three-screen videos made for the gallery setting, to the kaleidoscopic, sculptural multi-screen installations for which he is renowned today. Together, they explore how Julien breaks down barriers between different artistic disciplines by drawing from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture.

The show opens with Julien’s earliest experiments in moving image, 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 art students from across the African, Asian and Caribbean diaspora played a vital role in the establishment of Black independent cinema in Britain. Four works from this period have been brought together at Tate Britain, including Julien’s first film, Who Killed Colin Roach? (1983) – conceived as a response to the unrest following the death of a young man at the entrance to a police station, Territories (1984), which focuses on the Black British experience in the early 80s, and This is Not An AIDS Advertisement (1987), an important work of LGBTQIA+ history that continues to resonate powerfully today. The artist’s pivotal film exploring Black, queer desire – Looking for Langston (1989) – also features, bringing together poetry and image to look at the private world of the Black artists and writers who were part of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s.

Julien’s use of dance to articulate the movement of peoples 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 Marvellous Entanglement (2019). In Western Union, a series of vignettes choreographed by the internationally renowned Russell Maliphant create a poetic reflection on African migration histories and the effects of trauma on people, buildings and monuments. A Marvellous Entanglement meanwhile features a stunning performance from Balé Folclórico da Bahia filmed at the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia in Brazil, meditating on the legacy of visionary modernist architect and designer Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992).

For the first time in Europe, the exhibition premieres the artist’s latest film, Once Again...(Statues Never Die) (2022), which explores the relationship between US collector Albert C. Barnes and the famed philosopher and cultural critic Alain Locke, known as the ‘Father of the Harlem Renaissance’. The film examines their storied relationship, its mutually formative critical dialogue, and its significant impact on their work as educators and activists on behalf of various African American causes. The exhibition also showcases Julien’s critically acclaimed ten-screen film installation Lessons of the Hour (2019). A portrait of the life and times of the self-liberated freedom-fighter Frederick Douglass, this work can be seen to represent Julien’s 40-year long commitment to cultural activism, the politics and poetics of image, and the moral and social influence of picture-making.

Sir Isaac Julien (b.1960, London) is a pioneering British filmmaker and installation artist who lives and works in London and Santa Cruz, California. He received a BA in Fine Art Film from Central St. Martin’s School of Art in 1984 and completed his post-doctoral studies at Les Entrepreneurs de L’Audiovisuel Européen, Brussels in 1989. His 1989 documentary-drama Looking for Langston exploring author Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance garnered Julien a cult following, while his debut feature film Young Soul Rebels won the Semaine de la Critique prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991.

Julien was awarded the title Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s birthday honours in 2017 and was made a Royal Academician in 2018. In 2022 he was recognised with a knighthood for services to diversity and inclusion in art. Julien’s work is held in numerous public collections including Tate; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; the LUMA Foundation, Arles; the Kramlich Collection; the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town.

Lockton

EJ Hentenaar, CEO of Lockton Europe, said “Lockton is incredibly proud to launch our new, multi-year partnership with Tate through our support of the Isaac Julien exhibition at Tate Britain. An award-winning artist and pioneer, Sir Isaac has broken down barriers between both artistic disciplines and people, whilst drawing on critical themes of history and culture. Here at Lockton, we are honoured to support art which champions our shared values of independence, diversity and inclusion. We look forward to continuing to work with Tate, supporting artistic risk-taking, community engagement and access to art for all.”

As the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage firm, Lockton is committed to service and is empowered with a single-minded focus on delivering results for clients. More than 9,500 associates provide 65,000 clients globally with creative solutions in risk management, insurance and employee benefits consulting. Lockton are purposely unconventional, insatiably curious and uncommonly independent. Lockton’s multi-year partnership with Tate is demonstrable of shared values and of a commitment to supporting Tate’s mission of providing access to art for all.

Tate Britain
Isaac Julien: What Freedom is to Me
April 26th, 2023 - August 20th, 2023