<h2>RACHID KORAÏCHI<br>TEARS THAT TASTE OF THE SEA<br>13 April - 12 June 2021<h2><h2>RACHID KORAÏCHI<br>TEARS THAT TASTE OF THE SEA<br>13 April - 12 June 2021<h2><h2>RACHID KORAÏCHI<br>TEARS THAT TASTE OF THE SEA<br>The new catalogue available from our store £10 + p&p<h2><h2>RAFAEL TRELLES<br>AXIS MUNDI<br>17 June - 24 July 2021<h2><h2>RAFAEL TRELLES<br>AXIS MUNDI<br>17 June - 24 July 2021<h2><h2>BENJI REID: LAUGH AT GRAVITY<br>3 September - 8 October 2021</h2><h2>DREAM NO SMALL DREAM: The Story of October Gallery<br>Available from our Book Store, £40 + P&P</h2>304 pages, full colour plates throughout. Edited by Gerard Houghton.
 

CURRENT EXHIBITION

RACHID KORAÏCHI
Tears that Taste of the Sea

13 April - 12 June 2021
Rachid Koraïchi, from the series Lachrymatoires Bleues - Blue Lachrymatory Vases, 2020.
Ceramic with cobalt oxide glaze, 51 x 32 x 32 cm each.
Rachid Koraïchi, from the series Handkerchiefs of Hope (of set of 7), 2020. Acrylic on canvas, 27 x 22 cm.

Tears that Taste of the Sea, an exhibition of new works by Rachid Koraïchi, will open at October Gallery in April, 2021. The exhibition presents a select sampling of Koraïchi’s works in different media created during this past year of global crisis, and includes seven blue and white ceramic vases from the Lachrymatoires Bleues series, three sets of seven paintings from the Handkerchiefs of Hope series, three large steel sculptures representing vigilant guardian figures and one large etching, Le Jardin d’Afrique. In formal terms, the diverse works are linked together by the figures, glyphs and symbols of Koraïchi’s signature style of hand-drawn characters. Thematically speaking, they are related by their emphasis on the innumerable tears shed mourning the loss of loved ones, for reasons of displacement, migration and disaster, or the harrowing effects of the present pandemic. This exhibition marks the first time these four elements of The Garden of Africa, Koraïchi's significant new project to create a cemetery in Southern Tunisia for the many migrants drowned while crossing the Mediterranean in search of a better life, are displayed together.


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FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION

Rafael Trelles: AXIS MUNDI

17 June - 24 July 2021
Rafael Trelles, Susúa (Susúa Forest - detail), 2019.
Oil on linen, 183 x 122 cm.
Rafael Trelles, Dambalah, 2018.
Oil on linen, 91.5 x 122 cm.
This first solo exhibition of new works by Rafael Trelles, explores the notion of the Axis Mundi, a mythic tree that represents a portal between this and other worlds.

In 2018, Rafael Trelles exhibited a set of exquisitely hand-drawn works, depicting mysterious, magico-mythical realms, as part of October Gallery’s Portal show. His latest solo exhibition, entitled Axis Mundi, presents a newly completed series of mixed media paintings that develop similar themes in novel and unexpected ways. The exhibition’s title refers to that central ‘world tree’ around which the universe supposedly revolves. This notion, common to many ancient cultures in Africa, the Americas and Europe, situates a giant tree at the centre of some ageless, sacred wood. One example, from the Norse sagas, tells of the great ash tree, Yggdrasil, which from its topmost branches to its deepest roots connects nine different realms, passing from the heavens to earth before plunging down into the underworld below. Trelles’ haunting paintings present themes linking the enchanted forests of his native Puerto Rico with these widespread beliefs that see forests as sites of refuge and transformation in a natural world increasingly challenged by crises of species extinction and climate change.

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NEWS, EVENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS


ART FAIRS & EXTERNAL EXHIBITIONS
October Gallery and our artists have an exciting programme of external exhibitions and art fairs over the coming months. Including a major retrospective of James Barnor's photography at the Serpentine.

Rachid Koraïchi features at Contemporary Ceramic Art from the Middle East at the Victoria & Albert Museum and along side Golnaz Fathi at Reflections: contemporary art of the Middle East and North Africa at the British Museum. Works by Laila Shawa are part of the exhibition Inside/Out at CAP Kuwait and LR Vandy's sculpture from the series Superhero Cog Woman will feature at Kensington Chelsea Art Week in late June.
Rachid Koraïchi, From the series: Les Sept Stations Célestes (II), 2018. Soft paste porcelain, blue and white oxide, 50 x 47 x 47 cm.
Visit our Art Fairs & External Exhibitions page for the full programme
London and Accra over three decades – in pictures
(The Guardian, 11 March 2021)
James Barnor’s career as a studio portraitist, photojournalist and black lifestyle photographer spans six decades, recording major social and political changes in London, UK, and Accra, Ghana. His forthcoming Serpentine gallery exhibition, Accra/London: A Retrospective, focuses on the period 1950-1980, selected from more than 40,000 available images.
James Barnor: London/Accra – A Retrospective is at the Serpentine, London, from 19 May 2021
(subject to government guidelines)
James Barnor,
AGIP Calendar Model, 1974.
Read more on The Guardian website
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga named in Apollo Magazine 40 Under 40 Africa
The accolade celebrates artists, thinkers, business leaders and advocates who have pioneered arts from Africa and the Diaspora.

You can view Eddy's artist page here
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Mémoire Fragile 1, 2020.
Acrylic and oil on canvas, 200 x 200 cm
Appollo Magazine Website Article
James Barnor receives Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society
James Barnor is amongst the luminaries of the photography world being honoured for their innovation and outstanding contributions to the photographic medium. Now in its 142nd year, the RPS Awards consist of eighteen categories that cover art, science, education, film and publishing.
Photo: Jonathan Greet, 2016.
RPS Awards Website
How El Anatsui Broke the Seal on Contemporary Art
(The New Yorker. 11 Jan 2021)
Read Julian Lucas' piece for the
New Yorker on El Anatsui

"His runaway success began with castaway junk: a bag of bottle caps along the road. Now the Ghanaian sculptor is redefining Africa’s place in the global art scene."

From the touring exhibition Triumphant Scale to Anatsui's studio in Nsukka, Lucas explores the artist's life, process and works in incredible depth
Photo: The New Yorker
Read on The New Yorker Website
 

VISTING OCTOBER GALLERY

Bloomsbury, London

October Gallery has been instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists, including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraïchi, Romuald Hazoumè, Nnenna Okore, Laila Shawa and Kenji Yoshida. The Gallery promotes the Transvangarde, the very best in contemporary art from around the planet, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, writers, intellectuals and artists, and hosts talks, performances and seminars, see www.octobergallery.co.uk/events

The rich diversity of art presented is an inspiration to collectors and enthusiasts. Institutions such as the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany; Setagagya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan have all collected works from October Gallery.

Founded in 1979, October Gallery is a charitable trust which is supported by sales of art, rental of the Gallery's unique facilities, grants from various funding bodies and the active support of dedicated artists, musicians, writers and many friends from around the world. The Gallery’s Education Department is inclusive of all ages from under 5’s to PGCE student and delivers a wide range of provision, see www.octobergalleryeducation.com

October Gallery is open from 12:30 to 17:30 pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Gallery is closed during official holidays and the entire month of August.



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