Sokari Douglas Camp in ‘No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990′ (10 July 2015 – 24 Jan 2016)

Established Nigerian-British artist Sokari Douglas Camp creates story through sculpture. She sometimes gives her sculptures titles that, without the context of the artwork, could almost double as fashion headlines in a women’s magazine, such as All that Glitters and Accessories Worn in the Delta. However, next to the artwork, these titles provide an in-depth context to the sculptures themselves. The titles are not haphazard. Instead, they make the viewer chuckle, then become embarrassed for laughing. The subject matter being addressed with the sculptures can bring out the tragic comedy of the everyday.

Above: Sokari Douglas Camp, Accessories Worn in the Delta

In Green Leaf Barrel for example, Douglas Camp portrays her version of ‘god’, a female ‘god’. This sculpture, she writes on her website, was inspired by William Blake’s Urizen- I, in which the central figure appears to be creating the world—very serious stuff. However, Douglas Camp’s ‘god’ creates the world while wearing a Smurf-patterned wrap skirt. Douglas Camp shares part of her reasoning for including the Smurfs: “Very often when you see tragedy or something very serious there is a commercial light thing in the same picture. People in temporary housing with a Mickey mouse poster keeping their shelter intact. A fierce Taliban fighter hiding his identity with a picture of Britney hanging off a wall…”

In addition to meaningful titles, the medium in which Douglas Camp work adds another layer to her work. She is known for her welded steel creations. The medium is durable, rigid, unchanging. It is also typically associated with the masculine. We must ask why it is so significant that a female is using this medium—that is used in construction—as an art form. What is being asserted with this choice? One theory that can be inferred revisits the idea of durability. The use of such a strong material gives an impression of permanency. This sentiment resonates even more in sculptures such as All the World is Now Richer.

Above: Sokari Douglas Camp, All The World is Now Richer

All the World is Now Richer is actually a proposed series of sculptures. Each sculpture poignantly marks a point in the history of slavery like a lead weight. The medium reminds us that the exploitation of slaves existed and always will exist. However, the medium also shows the strength of those who endured slavery. Each sculpture of an individual is accompanied by phrases that refer to the era represented by its corresponding figure. While the figures stand vertically in three dimensions, the phrases fall horizontally like two-dimensional shadows behind the figures. The first phrase reads, “From our rich ancestral life.” They include affecting phrases such as, “But we were brave.” The last figure acts as the title figure, casting the inevitable shadow reading, All the world is now richer. The sculpture serves as a reminder that the current success of the cotton, sugar, and tobacco industries was built on the backs of slaves.

Often welded to slightly larger-than-life proportions, her sculptures are figural without being literal. The effect is that negative space becomes just as important as positive space. Take Scatter Daisy as an example. The empty space in the skirt is as much a part of the skirt’s pattern as the welded metal. The sculpture is figurative in that it is a sculpture of a woman. Although she remains the silver color of steel and void of facial features, her style of dress at once is reminiscent of a Nigerian woman. The proportions of the woman balancing an oil drum on the back of one hand gives the sculpture a fantastical sense. Her daisy-covered oil drum defies the laws of physics to instill a certain level of confusion in the viewer. It is then that the viewer’s attention is drawn to the contradictory nature of a steel barrel covered in daisies. Douglas Camp offers a suggestion to the meaning of her sculptures, such as this one, in an interview with the Independent, “I have a dream that the Niger Delta will be cured even though it is dying of oil pollution.” In this way, Scatter Daisy becomes an optimistic sculpture. Despite the detrimental impact of oil in the region, the steel Nigerian woman scatters daisies.

Above: Sokari Douglas Camp, Battle Bus

Douglas Camp often addresses the issue of oil in the Niger Delta. Battle Bus is currently traveling as part of Action Saro–Wiwa a campaign to clean up the Niger Delta. The full-scale replica of a Nigerian bus is engraved with the words “I ACCUSE THE OIL COMPANIES.” The bus commemorates the late Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa who tirelessly fought for environmental rights in the Niger Delta. It is on view to the public outside of the Peckham Library in London until July 23 and will continue to be on view in Nigeria throughout the summer.

Some of Douglas Camp’s work will also be on view until January 24, 2016 as part of the exhibition No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990. This exhibition also features Eddie Chambers, Errol Lloyd, Denzil Forrester, Sonia Boyce, and Keith Piper. It examines the struggle that Black British artists faced to have their voices heard. No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990 specifically looks at the life works of Eric and Jessica Huntley and the Bogle L’Ouverture Press, a publishing house and pioneering bookshop and cultural hub that they founded in 1969. The artists were selected for being notable artists of the period. The focus is Black British cultural identities, heritage, and creative voices.

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