John
Yau remembers an inimitable artist who embraced his queerness, and wonders what
he might say about his acceptance into the mainstream today

John Yau

Martin Wong, the perennial outsider, answers back

‘Becoming an artist felt natural to me. Both of my parents are artists and my grandfather was an architect, so I was surrounded by conversations about creative practices from a young age. One of my favorite things to do growing up in Barbados was to sit with my grandfather and look at his designs and blueprints for houses. I also watched my parents work. They took my desire to create seriously and let me use their materials.

‘I loved documenting people in my family and the natural landscapes of Barbados. I still have some of those early images in bright red sketchbooks – like an archive of that period – and they continue to feed into my practice today. I would look back at them when I moved to the UK as a teenager and was negotiating the different worlds between Barbados and Birmingham. I still take my sketchbook and pencil with me wherever I go: It makes me feel grounded, but also curious about the world.

‘I knew from an early age that I wanted to go to art school and become an artist. When I began studying at Edinburgh College of Art, I discovered it was really all about community. Suddenly, I had an audience, a support network, and a kinship with people who were there to forge friendships and develop their work. The experience encouraged me to think about how art could impact and involve audiences more directly.
‘I had an incredible professor at Edinburgh College of Art named Maureen Hodge, who taught tapestry. At a time when most people didn’t understand the work I was making – which was not only from a queer perspective, but also the perspective of someone from the Caribbean looking at the UK through a postcolonial lens – she helped me keep my vision while taking me out of my comfort zone to try new things. I recently returned to working with large-scale textiles, which feels like a lovely, full-circle moment. Another professor who changed my life was Ranald Sherriffs on my foundation course at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. He encouraged me to be brave and treated me like an adult, even though I was only 17. It’s so special at that age to have these relationships with elders who encourage you to look deeper and to expose yourself to the unknown. I want to continue taking risks as an artist because that’s what makes work exciting.

‘My practice is interdisciplinary because I’ve never felt pressured to do one thing and I’ve always been led by my own ideas, which have been shaped by the different environments I’ve worked in, from Barbados to Scotland to South Africa. An example of this is my current exhibition, ‘between a whisper and a cry’, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Part of the installation is a film I made in 2019, but I’ve also incorporated new elements that draw from conversations I’ve been having with local people about homelessness and the climate crisis, enabling me to anchor the work more effectively and specifically in LA. It’s the new contacts you meet and the new conversations you have that keep you on your toes as an artist.

‘The collaborations that have evolved from these conversations are also an intrinsic part of my practice. One of my most important partnerships is with the incredible South African artist Dean Hutton, who I got to know in Johannesburg on a visiting artist program in 2014. Before that, I’d never really collaborated with another artist, but Dean and I have developed a wonderful practice together. Working collaboratively has been the best way to keep me humble and bright. It can be challenging at times, but it can also be the most incredibly special thing, because you have someone who’s holding that knowledge, that conversation with you.

‘Another significant collaboration was with my dear friend Ebele Okobi on ‘deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory’, my Scotland + Venice presentation at the 2022 Venice Biennale. The installation included the phrase “invest in love,” which was in my mind the entire time we were making the work. We found out about the Venice commission in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to take hold around the world, so the two years during which we developed the project were engulfed in devastation and grief. We were also impacted by the police murder of George Floyd later that year and the resulting global uprisings. I spent a lot of time thinking about how we might better live and work alongside other people. And, for me, love is really at the core of that: it’s the feeling, the state of mind that encourages us to hold on. My conversations with Ebele made me realize what’s at stake when we forget about love, and how love can be a practice for nurturing ourselves. So, this is a work about community, about holding onto hope, and about treating each other more lovingly.’

Alberta Whittle is represented by <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/1295/The-Modern-Institute" target="_blank">The Modern Institute</a> (Glasgow) and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/29651/Nicola-Vassell">Nicola Vassell Gallery </a>(New York).&nbsp;
Dr. Jareh Das is an independent curator, writer, researcher, and occasional florist based between West Africa and the UK.
Alberta Whittle ‘between a whisper and a cry’ Until September 10, 2023 Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles 
Published on June 22, 2023.
Caption for full-bleed images, from top to bottom: 1.&nbsp;Alberta Whittle, Between a Whisper and a Cry, 2019. Courtesy of the Artist and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow. 2.&nbsp;Alberta Whittle, Lagareh — The Last Born, 2022. Installation view ‘deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory’, Scotland + Venice, 59th Venice Biennale, 2022. Co-commissioned by Scotland+Venice and Forma Arts, London; film produced by Forma Arts. Courtesy of the Artist and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow. Photograph by Cristiano Corte.

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