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Keith Piper

Born, 1960 in Malta

image of Keith Piper

Many biographical references to Keith Piper erroneously state that he was born in Birmingham. His place of birth was in fact Malta. Keith Piper’s work was included in the From Two Worlds exhibition at Whitechapel Art Gallery, 30 July - 7 September 1986. His work was included in the landmark exhibition The Other Story: Afro-Asian artists in post-war Britain, Hayward Gallery, London, 1989.

Keith Piper spoke at the Shades of Black conference held at Duke University, 19 - 22 April 2001. His paper, Wait, Did I Miss Something? Some Personal Musings on the 1980s and Beyond (part of The Thematics and Aesthetic Shifts in Practice Since the 1980s panel) is reproduced in Part One of the book Shades of Black, subtitled Assembling Black Arts in 1980s Britain. Likewise, Keith Piper’s work was included in the book Shades of Black: Assembling Black Arts in 1980s Britain.

Piper’s work was discussed and illustrated in Exiles, Diasporas & Strangers, one of four books in a series titled Annotating Art’s Histories, jointly published by The MIT Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts and iniva the Institute of International Visual Arts, London, published in 2008 and edited by Kobena Mercer. The chapter relating to Piper was Diaspora, Trauma and the Poetics of Remembrance, by Jean Fisher.

Several stills from Keith Piper’s works are reproduced in Gen Doy’s book, Black Visual Culture, I.B. Tauris, 2000.

Piper was one of over 60 artists whose work was included in Afro Modern, a major exhibition that took place at Tate Liverpool in the spring of 2010. The exhibition was accompanied by a major catalogue. Piper’s work was reproduced in the small visitor guide, issued by Tate Liverpool, that accompanied the exhibition. From the visitor guide:

Afro Modern: Journeys through the Black Atlantic, 29 January - 25 April 2010

As a port city, Liverpool has played an important role in the millions of journeys back and forth across the Atlantic. The city has been at the heart of cultural exchange for centuries making it the ideal location for Tate’s fascinating new exhibition, Afro Modern: Journeys through the Black Atlantic.

This thought-provoking exhibition identifies a new, hybrid culture that has arisen from the journeys made by people of Black African descent and is the first exhibition to trace in depth the impact of this new culture on art from the early twentieth century to today.

From Picasso to Man Ray, Kara Walker to Chris Ofili and Ellen Gallagher to Jean Michel Basquiat, this exhibition features a wide variety of artists and offers a fresh and alternative interpretation of their work for a new generation.

The cover of the visitor guide featured Glenn Ligon, Malcolm X [version 2] #1, 2000. The above text was accompanied by small reproductions of Candice Breitz, Ghost Series #4, 1994-6 and Keith Piper, Go West Young Man.

Piper’s website is www.keithpiper.info/

 

Related items + view all 90

click to show details of Trophies of Empire: a major publication

»  Trophies of Empire: a major publication

Press release relating to a publication, 1994

click to show details of Unrecorded Truths

»  Unrecorded Truths

Invite relating to an exhibition, 1986

click to show details of Us an’ Dem boxed catalogue

»  Us an’ Dem boxed catalogue

Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1994

Related exhibitions + view all 31

»  Trophies of Empire - Arnolfini

Group show at Arnolfini. 1992 - 1993

Related venues - view 5

»  Aicon Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College

Oberlin, Ohio, United States of America

»  Arnolfini

Bristol, United Kingdom

»  Art Exchange Gallery / New Art Exchange

Nottingham, United Kingdom

»  Art Gallery of Windsor

Ontario, Canada

»  Battersea Arts Centre

London, United Kingdom

»  Bedford Hill Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  The Black-Art Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  Brixton Art Gallery

Brixton, London, United Kingdom

»  The Bronx Museum of the Arts

United States of America

»  Caribbean Cultural Center

United States of America

»  Cartwright Hall

Bradford, United Kingdom

»  Chelsea College of Art and Design Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  City Gallery Leicester

Leicester, United Kingdom

»  City Museum and Art Gallery

Plymouth, United Kingdom

»  Cornerhouse

Manchester, United Kingdom

»  Fruitmarket Gallery

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

»  Graves Art Gallery

Sheffield, United Kingdom

»  Grey Art Gallery and Study Centre

New York, United States of America

»  Guildhall Art Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  Hayward Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  Ikon Gallery

Birmingham, United Kingdom

»  Leeds City Art Gallery, The Headrow

Leeds, United Kingdom

»  Maclaurin Art Gallery

Ayr, United Kingdom

»  Madison Art Center

Madison, United States of America

»  Manchester City Art Gallery

Manchester, United Kingdom

»  Mappin Art Gallery, Weston Park

Sheffield, United Kingdom

»  Merseyside Maritime Museum

Liverpool, United Kingdom

»  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

Boston, United States of America

»  Northern Centre for Contemporary Art

Sunderland, United Kingdom

»  Oakville Galleries

Ontario, Canada

»  Ottawa Art Gallery

Ottawa, Canada

»  The Pentonville Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  PM Gallery & House

London, United Kingdom

»  Rochdale Art Gallery

Rochdale, United Kingdom

»  Royal Albert Memorial Museum

Exeter, United Kingdom

»  Royal College of Art, Gulbenkian Galleries

London, United Kingdom

»  Royal Festival Hall

London, United Kingdom

»  Studio Museum in Harlem

New York, United States of America

»  Tate Britain

London, United Kingdom

»  Tate Liverpool

Liverpool, United Kingdom

»  Towner Art Gallery

Eastbourne, United Kingdom

»  Transmission Gallery

Glasgow, United Kingdom

»  Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, United States of America

»  Whitechapel Art Gallery

London, United Kingdom

»  Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Wolverhampton, United Kingdom