Blk Art Group 1983-1984

Group show at Graves Art Gallery. 2011 - 2012
Date: 8 September, 2011 until 24 March, 2012
Curator: Louisa Briggs
Organiser: Graves Gallery

The Blk Art Group existed for a relatively brief period of time in the early 1980s. It was the final incarnation of a loose grouping of young Black artists and art students who, in an ever-changing line-up, exhibited in a number of exhibitions between 1981 and 1984. Practitioners associated with this grouping included Dominic Dawes, Andrew Hazel, Claudette Johnson, Wenda Leslie, Ian Palmer, Keith Piper, Donald Rodney, Marlene Smith, and Janet Vernon. In 2011 Graves Gallery, Sheffield brought together a selection of work for an exhibition titled Blk Art Group 1983-1984.

According to the exhibition publicity, “The Blk Art Group was formed in the early 1980s by a radical group of young black artists including Eddie Chambers, Keith Piper, Donald Rodney and Marlene Smith.

At a time when the Conservative government was outspokenly anti-immigrant, the British National Party was on the rise and the Brixton riots were shaking London, the Blk Art Group emerged as a creative force in Britain.”

The exhibition’s launch was Wednesday 7 September 2011. No closing date was specified on the Launch Event card, but the exhibition closed on 24 March 2012.

»  Blk Art Group 1983-1984 Launch Event card

Announcement relating to an exhibition, 2011