Alberta Whittle (born 1980, Bridgetown, Barbados) is a Barbadian-Scottish multidisciplinary artist who works across media: film, sculpture, print, installation and performance.[1] She lives and works in Glasgow.[2] She was the winner of the Margaret Tait Award in 2018,[3] winner of the Frieze Artist Award in 2020,[4] received a Turner Prize bursary, also in 2020,[5] and represented Scotland at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2022.[6][1]
Alberta Whittle | |
|---|---|
 Alberta Whittle Deep Dive (Pause) Uncoiling Memory – Venice Biennale, 2022 | |
| Born | 1980 (age 43–44) Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Education | Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art |
| Awards | Margaret Tait Award in 2018; Frieze Artist Award, 2020; recipient of Turner Prize bursary, 2020 |
| Website | www |
Life and education
editWhittle was born and grew up in Barbados, moving to Birmingham as a teenager, and later to Scotland to study.[7] She gained an MFA from Glasgow School of Art in 2011 and she is undertaking a PhD at Edinburgh College of Art.[2] She is a research associate at the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre, situated at the University of Johannesburg.[8]
Work
editAlberta Whittle's work is concerned with questioning how history and society are constructed in the Western world. Her practice takes on the legacies of colonialism and slavery, and reflects upon black oppression and the way in which the racialised black body can carry markers of such oppression that may play out in an individual's mental or physical health.[2] Her work is also concerned with environmental issues such as the climate crisis.[7]
Whittle talks about her move to the UK from the Caribbean as something that, for her, drew attention to the inequalities in the way in which history is captured and told by different nations. She says: 'I was really quite shocked, moving to the UK, going to school in Birmingham, and living and studying in Scotland, by how there was an acute absence of conversation or acknowledgement in terms of these intricate and uneasy relationships between Europe and the Americas, or Asia, or Africa. [...] The privilege in avoiding these histories is something I found shocking and, I guess, hurtful. [...] That level of inattention definitely galvanises so much of my work.'[7]
Selected exhibitions
editSolo exhibitions
edit- Alberta Whittle: Business as Usual, Tyburn Gallery, London (31 May - 27 June 2019)[9]
- Alberta Whittle: How Flexible Can We Make the Mouth, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee (14 September - 24 November 2019)[2]
- Alberta Whittle: RESET, Jupiter Artland, Scotland, (31 July - 31 October 2021)[10]
- Alberta Whittle: Deep Dive (Pause) Uncoiling Memory, Scotland in Venice, Docks Cantieri Cucchini at the 59th Venice Biennale, Venice (23 April – 27 November 2022)[11]
Group exhibitions
edit- WHERE WE'RE AT: Other voices on gender, BOZAR, Brussels (18 June - 31 August 2014),[12]
- Johannesburg Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice (9 May - 22 November 2015)[13]
- Embodied Spaces, FRAMER FRAMED, Amsterdam (18 June - 26 July 2015)[14]
- Inner City, GoMA, Glasgow (16 February - 11 November 2018)[15]
- there's something in the conversation that is more interesting than the finality of (a title), The Showroom, London (28 March - 5 May 2018)[16]
- Stalking The Image: Margaret Tait and Her Legacy, GoMA, Glasgow (8 November 2018 - 5 May 2019)[17]
- Alberta Whittle and Emilio Bianchic, Useless, Pig Rock Bothy, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (13 - 21 April 2019)[18]
- 13th Havana Biennale, Cuba (12 April - 12 May 2019)[19]
- Alberta Whittle and Hardeep Pandhal, Transparency, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh (18 October 2019 - 5 January 2020)[20][21]
- Sonia Boyce: In the Castle of my Skin, Eastside Projects, Birmingham (25 January - 11 April 2020, original dates, disrupted due to COVID-19 pandemic)[22]
- Here Be Dragons, Copperfield, London (22 September - 31 October 2020)[23]
- between a whisper and a cry, Open Eye Gallery for Liverpool Biennial 11th Edition (20 March - 27 June 2021, original dates disrupted due to COVID-19 pandemic)[24]
- Life Support: Forms of Care in Art and Activism, Glasgow Women's Library, (14 August - 16 October 2021)[25]
Collections
editAlberta Whittle's work is part of the following collections:
- The National Galleries of Scotland collections[26]
- Glasgow Museums Collections[26]
- The UK Arts Council Collection[27]
- University of St Andrews[26]
- The Contemporary Art Research Collection at Edinburgh College of Art[28]
Awards
edit- Margaret Tait Award, 2018 with the video work between a whisper and a cry[3]
- Frieze Artist Award, 2020[4]
- Turner Prize bursary, 2020[5]
- Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award, 2020[29]
References
edit- ^ a b Parker, Rianna Jade (2021). A brief history of Black British art. London. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-84976-756-9. OCLC 1237252164.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d "Alberta Whittle". Dundee Contemporary Arts. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Margaret Tait Award & Residency". LUX Scotland. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Alberta Whittle wins Frieze Artist Award 2020 | Frieze". www.frieze.com. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Tate Britain announces recipients of £10,000 Turner bursaries". the Guardian. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ "Alberta Whittle to represent Scotland at 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, 2022". Scotland + Venice. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ a b c McNay, Anna. "Alberta Whittle – interview: 'No one can find Barbados on a map, whereas everyone can find the UK. That level of inattention galvanises so much of my work '". www.studiointernational.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Alberta Whittle". Forma. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Alberta Whittle: Business as Usual". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "RESET: Alberta Whittle – Jupiter Artland". Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ Simpson, Veronica. "Alberta Whittle: Deep Dive (Pause) Uncoiling Memory – Venice Biennale 2022". www.studiointernational.com. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ "WHERE WE'RE AT!". BOZAR. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "The Johannesburg Pavilion is a program of contemporary African film and live performance that will travel to Venice during the first two weeks of the 56th Venice Biennale". Biennial Foundation. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Exhibition: Embodied Spaces". Framer Framed. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Gallery Of Modern Art (GoMA) GlasgowINNER CITY // GALLERY 3 // 16 February – 11 November 2018". Gallery Of Modern Art (GoMA) Glasgow. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "The Showroom | there's something in the conversation that is more interesting than the finality of (a title)". www.theshowroom.org. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "New exhibition at Glasgow's GoMA celebrates life and work of visionary Scots filmmaker Margaret Tait". Glasgow Life. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Alberta Whittle and Emilio Bianchic". MAP Magazine. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ ivetteromero (24 March 2019). "13th Havana Biennial". Repeating Islands. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Art reviews: The Phillip A Bruno Collection | Street Level Open 2009 | Alberta Whittle & Hardeep Pandhal". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Edinburgh Printmakers". Edinburgh Printmakers. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Sonia Boyce: In the Castle of My Skin". Eastside Projects. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Here Be Dragons". C Ø P P E R F I E L D. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Alberta Whittle | Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art". www.biennial.com. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "Life Support: Forms of Care in Art and Activism". Glasgow Women's Library. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ a b c "Alberta Whittle". C Ø P P E R F I E L D. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Whittle, Alberta | Arts Council Collection". www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Alberta Whittle". Studio Pavilion. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Henry Moore Foundation awards £60,000 in rapid-response to artists across the UK amid the Covid-19 pandemic". Henry Moore Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.