Overview
Denzil Forrester’s solo exhibition ‘We Culture’ presents a collection of paintings and drawings from his first years of production, between 1978 and 1985. The works featured in this exhibition portray Forrester’s experiences in London night clubs and the dub reggae music scene. The artist would sketch throughout the night and in his studio the next day transform these drawings into large scale, brightly coloured paintings. Forrester describes, ‘I just wanted to draw movement, action, and expression. I was interested in the energy of the crowd, particular dance movements, and what the clubbers wore. In these clubs, city life is recreated in essence: sounds, lights, police sirens, bodies pushing and swaying in a smoke-filled room.’ This show also captures the other side of Black British experience, through the representation of social inequities. ‘We Culture’ includes works that reference the death in police custody of of Forrester’s friend and neighbour, Winston Rose. The aftermath of his tragic death inspired a series of...
Denzil Forrester’s solo exhibition ‘We Culture’ presents a collection of paintings and drawings from his first years of production, between 1978 and 1985. The works featured in this exhibition portray Forrester’s experiences in London night clubs and the dub reggae music scene. The artist would sketch throughout the night and in his studio the next day transform these drawings into large scale, brightly coloured paintings.
Forrester describes, ‘I just wanted to draw movement, action, and expression. I was interested in the energy of the crowd, particular dance movements, and what the clubbers wore. In these clubs, city life is recreated in essence: sounds, lights, police sirens, bodies pushing and swaying in a smoke-filled room.’
This show also captures the other side of Black British experience, through the representation of social inequities. ‘We Culture’ includes works that reference the death in police custody of of Forrester’s friend and neighbour, Winston Rose. The aftermath of his tragic death inspired a series of paintings, where Rose’s wake is reconfigured at a dub nightclub.
The exhibition rounds off with a series of works made during Forrester’s two-year scholarship at the British School in Rome during 1983-84. These works synthesise Forrester’s time in Rome, his Caribbean roots and his passion for London’s dub scene.
