Larry Achiampong & David Blandy: Finding Fanon Sequence
Plymouth Arts Centre
Thursday 6th July 2017 - Saturday 2nd September 2017
Preview: Thursday 6 July, 6-8pm. David Blandy and Larry Achiampong will be in conversation with Ben Borthwick, PAC Artistic Director at 7pm
Finding Fanon Part One, Larry Achiampong & David Blandy, 2015
Image credit: Claire Barrett
The exhibition premiere of Larry Achiampong and David Blandy’s film trilogy Finding Fanon (2015—17) is a moving and multi-layered exploration of race, identity and globalisation. Inspired by the radical thinker Frantz Fanon (1925—1961), the trilogy considers Fanon’s ideas about the mental distress caused by colonialism and the social and cultural consequences of decolonisation, and the ways race, racism and societal issues affect our relationships. The films move between past, present and future, blending personal histories and pop culture with science fiction and post-colonial theory. Footage of the artists shot in empty coastal and rural locations is collaged with their avatars wandering the deserted scenarios of Grand Theft Auto.
Alongside their collaborative work, the exhibition includes pieces by each artist from their individual practices, continuing their exploration of how we navigate the digital and physical worlds of the twenty-first century.
We will be screening David Blandy’s short film Tutorial before the cinema screenings of Inversion and My Cousin Rachel for the first week of the exhibition (from Friday 7 to Thursday 13 July). Achiampong (b. 1984) and Blandy (b.1976) have been collaborating as Biters and on the Finding Fanon series since 2013.
Larry Achiampong is a British—Ghanaian artist who has exhibited and presented projects in UK and abroad. David Blandy is represented by Seventeen Gallery and his films are distributed by LUX.