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Rites of Passage

March 16–April 29, 2023
Britannia Street, London

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Installation video

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Elsa James, © Patrick Quarm. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Elsa James, © Patrick Quarm. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork © Patrick Quarm. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork © Patrick Quarm. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Patrick Quarm, Make you no see, Make you no hear, Make you no speak (2022) Artwork © Patrick Quarm. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Patrick Quarm, Make you no see, Make you no hear, Make you no speak (2022)

Artwork © Patrick Quarm. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Patrick Quarm, © Mary Evans. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Patrick Quarm, © Mary Evans. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Sahara Longe, © Sharon Walters, © Àsìkò. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Sahara Longe, © Sharon Walters, © Àsìkò. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Alexandria Smith, © Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, © Manyaku Mashilo. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Alexandria Smith, © Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, © Manyaku Mashilo. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Patrick Quarm, © Adelaide Damoah. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Patrick Quarm, © Adelaide Damoah. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Adelaide Damoah, © Alexandria Smith. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Adelaide Damoah, © Alexandria Smith. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Manyaku Mashilo, © Àsìkò. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Manyaku Mashilo, © Àsìkò. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Ayesha Feisal, © Enam Gbewonyo, © Àsìkò. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Ayesha Feisal, © Enam Gbewonyo, © Àsìkò. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Ayesha Feisal

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Ayesha Feisal

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Michaela Yearwood-Dan, © Patrick Quarm, © Adelaide Damoah. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Michaela Yearwood-Dan, © Patrick Quarm, © Adelaide Damoah. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Enam Gbewonyo, © Ayesha Feisal, © Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Enam Gbewonyo, © Ayesha Feisal, © Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, © Emily Moore, © Ayesha Feisal. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, © Emily Moore, © Ayesha Feisal. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Phoebe Boswell, © Enam Gbewonyo. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Emily Moore, © Phoebe Boswell, © Enam Gbewonyo. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Nengi Omuku, © Phoebe Boswell. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Nengi Omuku, © Phoebe Boswell. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © Phoebe Boswell, © Enam Gbewonyo, © Femi Dawkins. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © Phoebe Boswell, © Enam Gbewonyo, © Femi Dawkins. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Victor Ehikhamenor, Do This In Memory Of Us (2019–20) Artwork © Victor Ehikhamenor. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Victor Ehikhamenor, Do This In Memory Of Us (2019–20)

Artwork © Victor Ehikhamenor. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Victor Ehikhamenor, Do This In Memory Of Us (2019–20) Artwork © Victor Ehikhamenor. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Victor Ehikhamenor, Do This In Memory Of Us (2019–20)

Artwork © Victor Ehikhamenor. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Julianknxx, …?inawhirlwindofencounters (2023) Artwork © Studioknxx. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Julianknxx, …?inawhirlwindofencounters (2023)

Artwork © Studioknxx. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Julianknxx, …?inawhirlwindofencounters (2023) Artwork © Studioknxx. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Installation view with Julianknxx, …?inawhirlwindofencounters (2023)

Artwork © Studioknxx. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Works Exhibited

Àsìkò, Pillars at the Port, 2022 Giclée print on baryta paper, 63 × 42 ⅛ inches (160 × 107 cm), edition of 5 + 2 AP© Àsìkò

Àsìkò, Pillars at the Port, 2022

Giclée print on baryta paper, 63 × 42 ⅛ inches (160 × 107 cm), edition of 5 + 2 AP
© Àsìkò

Enam Gbewonyo, Colonialist Ravelry, an infection of mind, skin and being. Blackness hangs on, a determined survival, 2021 Used tights, recycled cotton yarn, and cotton thread on wood frames, 42 ⅛ × 28 ¾ × 2 ⅝ inches (107 × 73 × 6.5 cm)© Enam Gbewonyo. Photo: Noah Da Costa

Enam Gbewonyo, Colonialist Ravelry, an infection of mind, skin and being. Blackness hangs on, a determined survival, 2021

Used tights, recycled cotton yarn, and cotton thread on wood frames, 42 ⅛ × 28 ¾ × 2 ⅝ inches (107 × 73 × 6.5 cm)
© Enam Gbewonyo. Photo: Noah Da Costa

Elsa James, Ode to David Lammy MP, 2022 Neon, 11 ⅞ × 354 ⅜ inches (30 × 900 cm), edition of 1 + 1 AP© Elsa James. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Elsa James, Ode to David Lammy MP, 2022

Neon, 11 ⅞ × 354 ⅜ inches (30 × 900 cm), edition of 1 + 1 AP
© Elsa James. Photo: Lucy Dawkins

Nengi Omuku, Eden, 2022 Oil on sanyan, 88 ¼ × 204 ¾ inches (224 × 520 cm)© Nengi Omuku. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Nengi Omuku, Eden, 2022

Oil on sanyan, 88 ¼ × 204 ¾ inches (224 × 520 cm)
© Nengi Omuku. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Alexandria Smith, Drifting on a memory, 2022 Mixed media on three-dimensional wood assemblage, 48 × 60 inches (121.9 × 152.4 cm)© Alexandria Smith. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Alexandria Smith, Drifting on a memory, 2022

Mixed media on three-dimensional wood assemblage, 48 × 60 inches (121.9 × 152.4 cm)
© Alexandria Smith. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Alexandria Smith, A time for those that remained, 2023 Mixed media on three-dimensional wood assemblage, 60 × 48 inches (152.4 × 121.9 cm)© Alexandria Smith. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Alexandria Smith, A time for those that remained, 2023

Mixed media on three-dimensional wood assemblage, 60 × 48 inches (152.4 × 121.9 cm)
© Alexandria Smith. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Sharon Walters, New Beginnings, 2023 Paper cut out, 23 ⅜ × 33 ⅛ inches (59.4 × 84.1 cm)© Sharon Walters. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Sharon Walters, New Beginnings, 2023

Paper cut out, 23 ⅜ × 33 ⅛ inches (59.4 × 84.1 cm)
© Sharon Walters. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

About

Gagosian is pleased to present Rites of Passage at the Britannia Street gallery. Curated by Péjú Oshin, this exhibition features work by nineteen contemporary artists who share a history of migration.

Rites of Passage explores the idea of “liminal space,” a coinage of anthropologist Arnold van Gennep (1873–1957). In his 1909 book, after which the exhibition is titled, Van Gennep was among the first to observe that the transitional events of birth, puberty, marriage, and death are marked by ceremonies with a ritual function that transcends cultural boundaries. Highlighting this phenomenon in physical, mental, and spiritual arenas, Oshin’s exhibition challenges linear narratives through works in a variety of mediums, which fill Gagosian’s expansive Britannia Street gallery.

Rites of Passage is structured in correspondence with liminality’s three stages: separation, transition, and return. Each of these phases addresses the act of movement, not only through individual experience, but also in the broader context of community. The exhibition examines the status of postcolonial Black identity, specifically the “triple consciousness” experienced by members of the African diaspora when encountering counterparts who identify with local majority populations. The artists in the exhibition are further grouped together according to themes of tradition, spirituality, and place.

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Artists

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones
Àsìkò
Phoebe Boswell
Adelaide Damoah
Femi Dawkins
Victor Ehikhamenor
Mary Evans
Ayesha Feisal
Enam Gbewonyo
Elsa James

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Press

Gagosian
press@gagosian.com

+44 20 7495 1500
Toby Kidd
tkidd@gagosian.com

Ashleigh Barice
abarice@gagosian.com

Bolton & Quinn
+44 20 7221 5000
Erica Bolton
erica@boltonquinn.com

Daisy Taylor
daisy@boltonquinn.com

Still of artist Adelaide Damoah in her performance piece Arachne: Rebirthing Dislocated Cultures

Adelaide Damoah: Arachne, Rebirthing Dislocated Cultures

In this video, artist Adelaide Damoah performs Arachne: Rebirthing Dislocated Cultures inside the Rites of Passage exhibition at Gagosian, Britannia Street, London. The audiovisual journey, which features an original sound piece by Damoah and composer Liz Gre, interrogates the history of colonialism with the intention of unlocking new modes of understanding.

A still detail of Julianknxx’s artwork “encounter?flee (Jolly)” 2023

Rites of Passage

Rites of Passage, an exhibition at Gagosian, London, explored the concept of “liminal space,” a coinage of the anthropologist Arnold van Gennep, through the work of nineteen contemporary artists who share a history of migration. Here, Péjú Oshin, associate director at Gagosian, London, speaks with Phoebe Boswell, Adelaide Damoah, and Julianknxx about their participation in the exhibition and about the complexities of community, performance, truth, and identity.

Alexandria Smith's painting, Languorous undulations (in the temple of my familiar), 2022, mixed media on three-dimensional wood assemblage, depicting a purple figure with a cloud-shaped head and one eye standing on a road and dipping a toe into a river. There is a bricked-up doorway in the background.

Languorous undulations (in the temple of my familiar)

Alexandria Smith and Akwaeke Emezi take up themes of queerness, hybridity, and embodied memory in their respective visual and literary works. Here, Emezi responds to Smith’s painting Languorous undulations (in the temple of my familiar) (2022) with an eponymous piece of flash fiction.

Alexandria Smith in front of her exhibition “Pretend Gravitas and Dream Aborted Givens”

Alexandria Smith Selects

Alexandria Smith has curated a selection of films that have influenced her practice for many years, as part of a series copresented by Gagosian and Metrograph. The program, on view in the theater and online from May 20 to June 2, 2022, features cinema exploring themes of loneliness through the prism of the fantastical, notions of family through spirituality, and the deconstruction of narrative through the disruption and manipulation of time.

Alexandria Smith, London, 2022. Photo: © Amoroso Films

Alexandria Smith

The artist speaks with author Nalo Hopkinson about what it means to depict the body, the struggles to embark on new projects, and the contours of space and place in the creation of fiction and art.

News

Photo: Adenike Oke

Performance

Bodies of Water: A Confluence of Voices
An Evening of Readings with Phoebe Boswell

Friday, April 21, 2023, 6:30pm
Gagosian, Britannia Street, London

Join Gagosian for an evening of readings by Phoebe Boswell inside the group exhibition Rites of Passage at Gagosian, Britannia Street, London. Boswell is one of the show’s nineteen participating artists, all of whom share a history of migration, and her interdisciplinary practice explores subjectivity in the layered threshold between collective histories and possible futures. Embracing the fluidity of storytelling to unpack the cultural associations of water, she will share new writing from her 2022 writer’s residency at Whitechapel Gallery, London, based on research for recent and ongoing work. The artist considers the dichotomy of bodies of water as both repositories of painful historical experience and sites of renewal and hope.

Register

Photo: Adenike Oke

Artwork © Adelaide Damoah. Photo: Femelle Studios, London

Performance

Adelaide Damoah
Arachne: Rebirthing Dislocated Cultures

Thursday, April 27, 2023, 8pm
Gagosian, Britannia Street, London

Join Gagosian for an interactive performance with Adelaide Damoah inside Rites of Passage at Gagosian, Britannia Street, London, which features work by the artist, to mark the exhibition’s closing on April 29, 2023. Participants will be invited to visit the oracular cave of Arachne-Damoah and accompany this spider-human hybrid on a visceral rite of passage. This audiovisual journey, which features an original sound piece by Damoah and Liz Gre, will interrogate the history of colonialism with the intention of unlocking new modes of understanding.

Register

Artwork © Adelaide Damoah. Photo: Femelle Studios, London