Charting the work of Isaac Julien means exploring the vital questions an experimental, inquisitive, and tenacious artist has asked over the last 40 years. ‘What Freedom is To Me’, a new exhibition in Tate Britain, is the UK’s first ever survey exhibition celebrating the British artist and filmmaker and his internationally acclaimed career. The explorative, web-like structure of the exhibition weaves us through Julien’s compelling lyrical films and video art installations, from his most high-profile works, including Looking For Langston (1989), an intimate portrayal of Black gay desire, to his first experimental engagements with film, like Who Killed Colin Roach? (1983), a response to the unrest following the death of a young Black man at the entrance of a police station.
“It had always been clear to us at Tate that Isaac Julian is an artist that richly deserved to have this moment. And this exhibition is the first
