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NETFLIX

PORTRAIT OF A TOP BOY

SEPTEMBER 2023

SOMERSET HOUSE

PORTRAIT OF A TOP BOY: “SULLY”

Curated by multi-disciplinary artist Ronan McKenzie and presented by Netflix, this pop-up exhibition commemorates the cultural impact that Top Boy has had on British television, in both its representation of life on the estates of east London, and its support and mentoring of emerging British talent.

The exhibition features newly commissioned paintings by 16 UK based established and emerging Black artists, with each portrait depicting an iconic character from the series - Sully (Kane Robinson), Dushane (Ashley Walters), Jaq (Jasmine Jobson), Stefan (Araloyin Oshunremi), Jamie (Michael Ward), Shelley (Simbiatu Ajikawo / Little Simz), Dris (Shone Romulus) and Modie (David Omoregie / Dave).

Through their individual approaches, each artist explores their personal relationship with a chosen character, the series, and the idea of what it means to be a Top Boy.

experience the GUCCI COSMOS EXHIBITION featuring work by joshua donkor, “carousel”

11 October - 31 December 2023

180 Studios, London

A sequence of outfits. A fashion show that neither portrays a collection nor a season, but rather how Gucci has managed to mark the rhythm of the times and to craft its image throughout a long and storied history. 

"Carousel" is a sort of magic lantern that alludes to the dream of fashion; the reverie that creates obsessive desires and that becomes a narrative description of each of us in the performative space between body and dress. It is a fantasy of clothes that simply flows before our eyes, one in which we can equally recognise a part of us and of our history.

"Carousel" is the euphoria of waiting to enter the party-the anticipation of that reciprocal pageantry of looking and being looked at. Carousel is a collective red carpet that recounts the work of various creative directors, as well as a timeline that is created through evolutions also comprising temporal accords with the past.

"Carousel" is a spectacle that brings together and materialises before our eyes the many designs that we have only seen online, in magazines, in museums, or worn by actors, singers, and personalities on various occasions- immediately reconstructing the syntax of our life and our history.

The Artists Collecting Society (ACS) is delighted to announce that ACS member Joshua Donkor has received the ACS x Young Masters Highly Commended Award. Joshua Donkor is a Ghanaian-British painter, whose work “I have more souls than one. Reap what you sow” (2023) uses portraiture as a tool to subvert monolithic portrayals of Black identity. This year’s Young Masters Art Prize short-listed artists are currently exhibiting at Gallery 67, York Street, London, W1H 1QB.



Joshua Donkor was selected as 1 of 3 finalists in the Royal British Artist Society's Rising Star 2023 exhibition. He and the remaining finalists were hand-picked from this year's 40 exhibiting artists, and his work in particular was chosen for its display of skill, strength and creativity. 

The selected artists were chosen from applicants from around the UK by the RBA Selection Committee, including Robin Footitt, Royal Over-Seas League Visual Arts Curator.

Joshua's painting 'The Professor. I have more souls than one' (2023) is currently on display at the RBA's Rising Stars exhibition in the Central Lounge of ROSL Clubhouse, London until 2 July 2023.

Joshua Donkor was welcomed as a resident into the Art Yard Studio in collaboration with Bankside Hotel and Contemporary Collective from the end of October through the new year. Joshua worked on his signature artistic process of visual narration in which he looks at people and stories as the main inspiration for his work.

Whilst in the studio, Joshua developed, ‘I Have More Souls Than One', which seeks to explore transcultural and African Diasporic experiences in the Western world and how this is felt through the different generations of family. Joshua describes the inspiration behind this concept.

“This project stemmed from my most recent journey back to Ghana at the start of 2022 with my cousin. As we have grown older our relationship with Ghana has continued to evolve. 2022 represented somewhat of a passing of the torch as my cousin was expected to take on more responsibilities within her family. This brought into focus many questions about our relationship and connection to Ghana as members of the African Diaspora. Although we have grown up with many Ghanaian cultural influences within our lives, unlike our parents and those before, we have not grown up there. This has led to a feeling of slight disconnection from our heritage, felt most notably whenever we return."

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