Isaac Julien at Victoria Miro

Bow local Sir Isaac Julien presents a new series of photographic works entitled Once Again…(Statues Never Die) at Victoria Miro.

Commissioned by the Barnes Foundation, the work explores the relationship between Dr Albert C. Barnes, an American collector and exhibitor of African material culture, and the famed philosopher and cultural critic Alain Locke, known as the ‘Father of the Harlem Renaissance’.

Once Again examines the significant and often neglected place of African objects in Western art museums. Julien’s five-screen installation explores the impact of Locke’s political philosophy and cultural organising activities on Dr Barnes’ pioneering art collecting and democratic educational enterprise.

Drawing on his seminal 1989 film Looking for Langston, Julien returns to the queer subculture of 1920s Harlem and references the sculptor Richmond Barthé, poet Langston Hughes, and renowned musician Roland Hayes. Actors André Holland, Danny Huston and Sharlene Whyte act as stand-ins for these historical figures.