Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art presents the first major solo exhibition by British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong. Achiampong’s work in film, sculpture, installation, sound, collage, music, and performance draws on his shared and personal history to address class, gender, and the intersection of popular culture and colonial vestiges. His work investigates digital identities and ‘the self’ constructions, providing multiple perspectives that expose our society’s profoundly rooted injustices.
Image courtesy of Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
Larry Achiampong (b. 1984) is a British Ghanaian artist, filmmaker, and musician. He is a BAFTA longlisted (2023) in the category ‘Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer’ and Jarman Award nominated (2021). He completed a BA in Mixed Media Fine Art at the University of Westminster in 2005 and an MA in Sculpture at The Slade School of Fine Art in 2008. His recent projects include commissions with Liverpool Biennial (2021); The Line, London (2020); De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea (2020), and Art on the Underground (2019/2022). His work has been presented in solo exhibitions like Relic Traveller: Where You and I Come From, We Know That We Are Not Here Forever, and Phi Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal (2021).
Image courtesy of Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
In the feature-length film, Wayfinder (2022), a young girl sets out on an epic journey across England.
Set during a pandemic, the film tracks the movements of its central protagonist travelling from North to South. Presented across six chapters, including ‘The North’, ‘The Land of Smoke’ and ‘The Kingdom of the East’, this epic film builds a dialogue around the themes of class and economic exclusion, belonging and displacement, cultural heritage, and the meaning of home.
Achiampong’s work in film and other media examines questions of class, gender, postcolonial identity, and the deeply entrenched inequalities in contemporary society. His practice incorporates moving images, sound, sculpture, collage, music, and performance.
The exhibition, which opened on the 20th of May, will close on the 29th of October, 2023.
