The Place is Here
The Work of Black Artists in 1980s Britain
The publication developed from the exhibition and research project The Place Is Here (2016–19), which traced the urgent and wide-ranging conversations taking place between black artists, writers, and thinkers in Britain during the 1980s. Within the context of Thatcherism and a racist art establishment, a new generation of black artists and intellectuals produced some of the most compelling ideas and images in recent British cultural history.
Across four exhibitions, The Place Is Here brought together over one hundred works by forty artists and collectives, spanning painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video, and expanded archival displays. Richly illustrated, the book includes thematic essays, close readings of works, and a series of panel discussions bringing together key scholarly, critical, and artistic voices foundational to art in Britain in the 1980s. The result is an intergenerational dialogue around pressing intellectual, political, and aesthetic debates, highlighting the significance of the work of these artists for the present.
Selected as Exemplary Multi-authored Book by the Historians of British Art Book Prize Committee 2021
