Formed in Wolverhampton, England, in 1979 Formed in Wolverhampton, England, in 1979
The Blk Art Group was an association of young black artists who, inspired by the US Black Arts Movement and the Caribbean Artist Movement, raised questions about what ‘Black Art’ was, its identity and what it could become in the future.
All the members of the group were children of Caribbean migrants, raised or educated in the industrial landscape in and around the West Midlands. Their first exhibition, ‘Black Art An’ Done’, was held at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 1981, and focused on the concerns of the black community and racial prejudice. The group organised the ‘First National Black Art Convention’ in October 1982, an event seen as crucial to the formation of the British Black Art Movement of the 1980s.
The group sought to empower black artists as well as encouraging young white artists to be more socially relevant in their practice. Working with a variety of mediums such as painting, installation, assemblage and sculpture they questioned Britain’s social, cultural and political legacies.
Artists associated with the group include Eddie Chambers, Dominic Dawes, Andrew Hazel, Claudette Johnson, Wenda Leslie, Ian Palmer, Keith Piper, Donald Rodney, Marlene Smith and Janet Vernon.
the Blk Art Group
The Blk Art Group Research Project was set up by former ‘Blk Art Group’ members Claudette Johnson, Marlene Smith and Keith Piper in 2011. The project aims to bring together a body of work contextualising, documenting and critiquing the Black Art movement and the social, cultural and political epoch which gave rise to it.
— Institutions that have supported the Blk Art Group Research Project
