A Secret Truth
My contribution to Courttia Newland's new book, The Art of Opposition.
Courttia's latest book reflects on what it means to be an artist operating outside the commercial mainstream. It’s about freedom of expression and refusing to conform. Alongside his own account, Courttia explores the work of Percival Everett, Roots Manuva, Iain Banks and Jean 'Binta' Breeze. I am flabbergasted to be among these minds.
My chapter is called A Secret Truth. It began with a post I wrote for Shade Art Review in 2024, Where Is the Black Nan Goldin?, marking twenty-two years since Goldin’s exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery. I was asking why, after two decades, no Black photographer has been celebrated for a body of work on intimacy in the way Goldin has.
Where is the Black Nan Goldin?
Last week marked the 22nd anniversary of Nan Goldin’s The Devil’s Playground exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery. Goldin, considered the most powerful person in art, certainly inspired me to document my life as a photographer. Known for her searingly intimate portraits of loved ones, Goldin’s work exp…
Courttia read it and came to me with questions about my practice. The chapter documents my photographic work from that period, made in response to Laura Mulvey’s writing on the male gaze. He writes that I was placing myself within an established arts industry that was unused to my presence. I feel the same now in many ways.
Plenty of writers critique exclusionary systems, but fewer embody those convictions in their work. This is a fierce, direct book that does both. If you know what it is to create within and against these structures, you will feel seen.
What an honour to be included. Thank you Courttia.