Star Power

Workplace is pleased to present its first solo exhibition by multidisciplinary London-based artist Rosa-Johan Uddoh, which follows her acclaimed institutional debuts ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ at Focal Point Gallery in Southend-on-Sea and Bluecoat in Liverpool (2021); and the recent publication of her homonymous first book. For ‘Star Power’ Uddoh continues her investigation of Black representation in history and popular culture. Through a series of new collages, an interactive installation and a fifty-five minute long film, the artist discusses what it means to make history and to be excluded from it, and the impact this has on one’s self-esteem and personal development.

The works in ‘Star Power’ are populated by a multitude of figures that oscillate between being symbolic representations of historical and religious characters and real people with lived experiences. It is at this threshold that Uddoh’s practice sits, as she investigates the problematic relationship between tokenisation of Black people and identity formation.