• The solo exhibition Want the World to Know at Saatchi Gallery showcases work by British artist Michael Forbes
• Want the World to Know addresses themes of racial politics, migration, religion and the dichotomy of blackness and whiteness
• Forbes works across media, including monumental sculpture, text-based work and digital art
London, UK – This July, Saatchi Gallery presents Want the World to Know, showcasing work by Nottingham-based artist Michael Forbes in his first London solo exhibition. Want the World to Know is open 21 July – 28 August 2023 in Gallery 4 and public admission is free.
Forbes works with sculpture, installation, photography and digital media to explore themes of racial politics, migration, history, and religion, through a lens that challenges us to examine the dichotomy of blackness and whiteness.
Want the World to Know features Forbes’ monumental totemic sculptures, which incorporate mannequins bound, cocoon-like, in black PVC. The resulting works are bulging forms whose taut skins point to rising political tensions which threaten to tear through. Forbes use of lifejackets alludes to political and humanitarian events as well as religious dogma.
The exhibition features text-based works which utilise the slogans of demonstrators in the 2020 BLM protests. Through these polemical works, Forbes poses vital questions about the demonisation, fetishisation, and control of the Black body.
Want the World to Know also incorporates the imagery of haute couture, where Forbes uses visual representation to challenge narratives around the buying and selling of privilege.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Press Preview:
Thursday 20 July 2023, 10AM-1PM, RSVP essential: https://www.saatchigallery.com/rsvps/mfpress
For all press inquiries, please contact:
Eleanor Thirlway eleanor@saatchigallery.com I +44 (0) 20 7811 3091
Dates & Opening Hours:
Open to the public: 21 July – 27 August
10am – 6pm (last admission 5.30pm), Monday – Sunday
Saatchi Lates: Dates to be announced
Admission:
Free entry, Pre-booking not required.
Images:
Publicity images can be downloaded via our website. saatchigallery.com/press or by contacting press@saatchigallery.com
By downloading the images, you acknowledge and accept the terms and conditions found within the link. These images can only be reproduced to illustrate a review or criticism of a work or report as defined by section 30 (i) and (ii) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Social Media
| Instagram, Twitter, TikTok: | @saatchi_gallery @forbesprojects |
| Facebook: | @saatchigalleryofficial @forbesprojects |
School Visits & Community Groups:
With the generous support of all our patrons, for each major exhibition there are opportunities to engage with creative projects and workshops whether that be in-gallery, virtually, in the classroom or at home.
education@saatchigallery.com I +44(0)20 7811 3087
ABOUT MICHAEL FORBES
Michael Forbes has exhibited nationally and internationally, including a solo show at the Djanogly Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre at the University of Nottingham (2022), Reformation at Yinka Shonibare’s Guest Project (2018), the Diaspora Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale (2017) and CPT: Time, History and Memory, Gallatin Galleries, New York (2012). He is Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Associate Artist and was selected in 2020 for YSP’s Royal College of Art Graduate Award.
Alongside his artistic practice, Forbes is a curator. He played a leading role in developing New Art Exchange, Nottingham, and is a co-founder of Primary, an artist studio complex in Nottingham, where he has his studio and is Chair of the Board of Trustees. Forbes has a BA (Hons) in Photography from Nottingham Trent University (1998) and an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art (2020).
ABOUT SAATCHI GALLERY Since 1985, Saatchi Gallery has provided an innovative platform for contemporary art. Exhibitions have presented works by largely unseen young artists, or by international artists whose work has rarely or never been exhibited in the UK. This approach has made the Gallery one of the most recognised names in contemporary art. Since moving to its current 70,000 square feet space in the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, London, the Gallery has welcomed over 10 million visitors. The Gallery hosts over 5,000 school visits annually and has over 6 million followers on social media. In 2019 Saatchi Gallery became a charity, beginning a new chapter in its history. www.saatchigallery.com
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY
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