VAST FRONDS CASTING INKY SHADOWS on jewel-hued expanses, families relaxing in sun-bleached rural idyls, repurposed clippings from fashion magazines and childhood photo albums; these are just some of the offerings at Soulscapes, a dazzling new exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery. Including works by over 30 artists from the African diaspora such as Hurvin Anderson, Phoebe Boswell, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, the show is visually spectacular while promoting themes of belonging and identity.
Covering a variety of mediums – including tapestry and film – it’s the paintings that are likely to make the biggest impact. It is these, after all, which are most directly compared like-for-like with traditional – that is to say, European – landscape paintings. These in feature tropical greens and deep warm mustards; the pastel palettes of English country gardens are few and far between. Turning accepted and familiar concepts of landscape and nature in art history on their heads is exactly what curator Lisa Anderson had in mind for the exhibition. By switching ‘land’ for ‘soul’ in the title, Anderson has concisely summed up its central message.
