SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP

Internationally renowned sculptor, Sokari Douglas Camp, creates her works primarily in steel. Her often large-scale sculptures make frequent reference to her Nigerian roots, while at the same time encompassing contemporary international issues. Douglas Camp is one of the winners of the Memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa in London and was also one of the shortlisted artists for the Fourth Plinth in 2003.

Douglas Camp first exhibited at October Gallery in 1985. She has had more than forty solo shows worldwide and in 2005, was awarded a CBE in recognition of her services to art. Her work is in the permanent collections of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; and the British Museum, London, UK. In 2012, her large sculpture, All the World is Now Richer, a memorial to commemorate the abolition of slavery, was exhibited in The House of Commons and then in 2014 at St Paul’s Cathedral, London. In 2016, her successful solo show, Primavera, at October Gallery, brought together major new sculptures which focussed on the reinterpretation of familiar figures from the European classic tradition as depicted by Botticelli and William Blake. Douglas Camp was selected for Ichihara Art X Mix 2020, Japan and created the largescale sculpture Manmade for the festival, on a moving tram carriage at Goi Station. She was also one of the international artists selected to create a column for STOA169 in Polling, Germany; a globally unique artist columned permanent hall that unites contemporary artistic ideas and different cultural concepts in one place.

Her third solo exhibition at October Gallery in 2022, Jonkonnu Masquerade, included a series of new works exploring the masquerade of ‘Jonkonnu’ both within its Caribbean context and that of the broader African diaspora. This exhibition has coincided with her large-scale sculpture Europe Supported by Africa and America being displayed at the V&A to complement the Africa Fashion exhibition. Two larger-than-life-sized steel interlinking sculptures, Tussling Jonkonnu, have also been part of the Kensington and Chelsea Art Week, 2022.

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View below for career highlights and works for sale by the artist.

SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP Items From Our Store

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Blind Love and Grace, 2016.

Primavera, 2015.

All The World Is Now Richer, 2010.

Otobo (Hippo) Masquerade, 1995.

SELECTED WORKS

Feather Girls, 2023.

Red Coats and Flags, 2023.

FROM OUR STORE

Sokari Douglas Camp C.B.E: Primavera
£10.00

Sokari Douglas Camp CBE: Jonkonnu Masquerade
£10.00

SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP

Born in 1958, Buguma, Nigeria. Lives and works in London, UK.
Education
1983-86		MA Sculpture, Royal College of Art, London, UK
1980-83		BA Hons Sculpture, Central School of Art and Design, London, UK
1979-80		California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, USA

Selected Solo Shows
2022		Jonkonnu Masquerade, October Gallery, London, UK
2021-22		All the World is Now Richer, Westminster City Council Hall, London, UK
2016		Primavera, October Gallery, London, UK
2010-14		All the World is Now Richer, Upper Waiting Gallery, The House of Commons London, UK; touring Bristol Cathedral, Bristol; Norfolk Cathedral, Norfolk; St Paul's Cathedral, London, UK It’s Personal, Tiwani Contemporary Gallery, London, UK
2010		First Man, Potters Field Commission for Southwark Council, London, UK Relative Pelican: Installation of Steel Sculptures, Stux Gallery, New York, USA
2009		Pain and Paradise, Kunstverein, Aalen, Germany
2008		The Pleasure of Seeing You: Sculpture and Fabric Patterns, Lethaby Gallery CSM, London, UK Strength of Feeling, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK
2007		One Day Exhibition: Resistance and Remembrance 1807- 2007, The British Museum, London, UK All the World is Now Richer, Harewood House Trust, Harewood, Leeds, UK The World is Richer, Wallspace, All Hallows on the Hall, London, UK
2006		Sweeping, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
2005-06		11th Commandment Sculpture Tour, Peckham; Bexley; Enfield, UK
2004		Sokari Douglas Camp, Galerie Peter Herrmann, Berlin, Germany
2002-03		Imagined Steel, The Lowry Arts Centre, Manchester; Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno; Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester; Derby Museum and Art Gallery, UK
2000		Echolot, Galerie Peter Herrmann, Stuttgart, Germany
1999		Knots of the Human Heart, Morley Gallery, London, UK Black History Month, Maritime Museum, London, UK Sokari Douglas Camp: Church Ede, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA
1998-99		Spirits in Steel: The Art of the Kalabari Masquerade, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
1996		Steel Stories, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, UK
1994		Urban Walk, Barbican Centre, Museum of London, UK
1993		Steel Clothes and Ornamentation, Redfern Gallery, London, UK
1992		Urban Women, South Bank Centre, London; Sue Williams, London, UK
1991		Market People, Chelsea Arts Club, Pittminster Studio, London; Taunton, UK
1990		New Work, Sue Williams, London, UK
1988		Alali, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool; City of Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery, UK
1987		Echoes of the Kalabari, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
		Sculpture in collaboration with Sekiapu Dance Troupe, Africa Centre, London; Royal Festival Hall, London; Commonwealth Institute, London; Museum of Mankind, London, UK
1985-88		Alali, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Milton Keynes Exhibition Gallery; Dorman Museum, Middlesborough, UK
1985		Alali: Kinetic Sculptures and Drawings, October Gallery, London, UK
1984		Artist of the Day, Angela Flowers, London, UK
1982		Alali (Festival Time), Africa Centre, London, UK

Selected Group Shows
2024		Transvangarde: Free Style Cipher, October Gallery, London, UK
2023		Transvangarde: Pushing Boundaries, October Gallery, London, UK
2022-23		Europe Supported by Africa and America,The Dorothy and Michael Hintze Galleries, Sculpture in Britain, V&A, London, UK
2022		Kensington + Chelsea Art Week, London, UK In a Pot of Hot Soup Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London, UK Modern & Contemporary African Art; and CCA Lagos Benefit Auction, Sotheby's London, UK
2021		OIL. Beauty and Horror in the Petrol Age, Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, Germany Manmade at Boso-Satoyama Art Festival ICHIHARA ART X MIX 2020+: Journeys, Chiba prefecture, Japan STOA169, Polling, Germany
2020		Atmospheres; Artists of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK Boso-Satoyama Art Festival; ICHIHARA ART x MIX 2020, Boso Peninsula, Japan
2019-23		Healing Power, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam; Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal; Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden; Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2019		Dream No Small Dream: Celebrating 40 Years of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK
2017		Diaspora Pavilion during the Venice Biennale, Palazzo Pisani S. Marina, Venice, Italy Celebrating Art and Music, Brunei Gallery SOAS, London, UK The Female Aesthetic, Swindon Central Library, Swindon, UK
2013		Sokari Douglas Camp CBE - Manuela Sambo, ARTCO Galerie, Herzogenrath, Germany
2012		Sculptors’ Drawings and Works on Paper, Pangolin London and Kings Place Gallery, London, UK
2011		As it Is! Contemporary Art from Africa and the Diaspora, Mojo Gallery, Dubai, UAE Environment and Object: Recent African Art, Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, New York, USA Fantastic Creatures, The British Museum International Touring Exhibition, Ulsan Museum, Ulsan, South Korea
2010		Modernities + Resistances/To All the Breathing of the World, Third World Festival of Black Arts & Cultures, Dakar, Senegal
2009-10		Identity and Self-Fashioning 1965-2009, Neuberger Museum of Art, New York, USA BM Treasures Exhibition, Madrid, Spain Henn Art Galerie, Maastricht, Netherlands
2009		In the Light of Play, Durban Museum, Durban, South Africa Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa Islands and their Worlds, Parc de la Villette, Paris, France Kréyol Factory, Parc de la Villette, Paris, France A Celebration of British Sculpture, Harold Martin Botanic Garden, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK Festival culturel panafricain d’Alger (PANAF) 2009, Algiers, Algeria Roots and More: Journey of the Spirit, Africa Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands Now We Are Ten, Campaign for Drawing, various locations across UK
2008		Dialogue of Cultures, ARTCO Galerie, Aachen, Germany Salon d’Art Contemporain Africain, Brussels, Belgium ARESUVA, African Regional Summit and Exhibition on Visual Art, Abuja, Nigeria Black Womanhood, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, New Hampshire; Davis Museum and Cultural Centre, Wellesley, Massachusetts; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, USA Design Without End: The Essential Art of African Textiles, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA The Poetics of Cloth: African Textiles/Recent Art, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, USA Auf Augenhöhe-Blicke auf Kunst und Kultur aus Afrika, Stadtische Galerie im Park, Viersen, Germany
2007		Africa Select I, ARTCO Galerie, Herzogenrath, Germany Remembering Saro-Wiwa: The Living Memorial, Goldsmiths, London, UK Alternative Narratives, The Alpha House, London, UK 52nd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy In and Out of Africa, with ARTCO Galerie, Haus Der Völker (HDV), Schwaz, Austria Terre Noire, Musée Maurice Denis, Saint- Germaine-en-Laye, France From Outside, All Hallows-by-the-Tower, London, UK Freedom: Slavery Past and Present, Morley College, London, UK ARTFAIR 21 with ARTCO Galerie, Herzogenrath, Germany
2006-07		Trienal de Luanda, multiple locations, Luanda, Angola
2006		Afrika! Afrika!, Munich; Berlin, Germany Chichester Festival, Chichester, UK SD Observatorio, IVAM (Institut Valencia d’Art Modern), Valencia, Spain Sokari Douglas Camp \| Nicole Guiraud \| Marcia Wok Kure \| Louzla Darabi, Art Society Neue Galerie Landshut in cooperation with Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Government Center for Political Education, Foreign Ministry), Landshut, Germany Remembering Saro-Wiwa: The Living Memorial, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
2005-06		Retour au futur’ l’art de l’Afrique noir, Patrimoine Culturel et Actualité, Collection Elmer, Luxembourg Africa Screams, Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt, Germany Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo- Kuti, Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, Barbican Art Galleries, London, UK Artists Selection, Peg Dollies on the Move! Brewery Arts, Cirencester, UK Personal Selection, Brewery Arts, Cirencester, UK
2005-06		Kijken zonder grenzen, Hedendaagse Kunst in het Afrika Museum: de collectie Valt en verder, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands
2005		Black President, The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo- Kuti, Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Ground Force – Africa Garden, Endemol, UK Production for BBC, The British Museum, London, UK Music in African Fine Art, Galerie im Waschhaus, Africa Festival, Potsdam, Frankfurt, Germany Africa Screams, Kunstverein Aalen/Rathaus- Galerie, Aalen, Germany
2004-05		Africa Screams, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien, Austria
2004		Montigny-Dak’Art, Le Grand (Y) Off, Belgium At Home with Art, The Lionel Phillip Collection, The Atkinson Gallery, Somerset, UK DACS 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK Insights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA Africa Screams, Das Böse in Kino, Kunst und Kult Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
2003-04		4th Plinth (Nominee Exhibition),The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, UK
2003		Exhibition of Contemporary African Art, The Bagagehal, Amsterdam, Netherlands Royal Academy Summer Show, London, UK Independence, South London Gallery, London, UK Just Like a Fish in Water, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth, Bodenburg, Germany Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo- Kuti, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA Africa Past, Present and Future, Westbourne Gallery, London, UK Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany Small is Beautiful XXI, Flowers Central, London, UK
2002		See the Talent,Brighton Museum and Art Gallery Touring, Brighton, UK DAK’ART 2002 La Biennale de l’Art African Contemporain, Senegal The Bridge, The Morley Gallery, London, UK The Commonwealth 2002 and Beyond, Commonwealth Institute, London, UK Encounters with the Contemporary, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
2001-02		Encounters with the Contemporary, Smithsonian National Museum of Art, Washington, USA Sainsbury/African Galleries, The British Museum, London, UK The Artist and the City, Centre de Contemporània de Barcelona, Spain Sense of Occasion – In association with Craftspace Touring , Birmingham, UK
2000		Hearst Gallery, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, California, USA
		Distinguished Identities: Contemporary African Portraiture, Staller Centre for the Arts, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA
1999-00		Tarble Arts Centre, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, USA Transatlantic Dialogues - Contemporary Art In and Out of Africa, Auckland, New Zealand Arche, Kunstgebäude im Schlosshof Bodenburg, Bodenburg, Germany Expo 2000, Hanover, Germany Black History Month, National Maritime Museum, London, UK Still Form, Bright Line, Canary Wharf, London, UK Women to Women, University Art Gallery, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, USA
1999		The Shape of the Century, Salisbury Festival, Salisbury and Canary Wharf, London, UK Arts Council Collection, National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK Les Champs de la Sculpture No.2, Champs Élysées, Paris, France
1998-00		Devious Devices - An Exhibition of Automata, Croydon Clocktower, London; Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton; Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham; Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Newport; Crafts Council Gallery, London, UK
1998-99		Global II, Addison Wesley Longman, Essex, UK
1998		Body & Soul, Stadsgalerij, Heerlen, Netherlands Das Vielfache Echo, Stuttgart, Germany Around and Around Europe, Africa and USA, Galerie Peter Herrmann, Germany British Figurative Sculpture Part 2, Flowers East, London, UK Kleinplastiktriennalle, Fellbach, Germany Small is Beautiful, Flowers East, London, UK Forja el Espacia, Centro d’Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Vencia, Spain; Callais, France
1997-98		National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan
1997		Havana Biennale, Havana, Cuba
1996		Die Andere Reise (The Other Journey), Kunste Hallie Krems, Austria
1995-96		Sculpture in Paradise, Chichester, UK African Metal Work, Crafts Council, London, UK An Inside Story, African Art of our Time; Setegaya Art Museum, Tokyo; Tokushima Modern Art Museum; Himeji City Museum of Art; Koriyama City Museum of Art; Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (MIMOCA), Gifu, Japan
1995		Around and Around, Duala, Cameroon
1994-95		Another Country, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
1994		Figure and Fantasy Sculpture, Canterbury, UK
1993-94		Contemporary Art Society Market, London, UK
1993		Unilever Recent Acquisitions, Unilever House, London, UK
1992		Art for a Fairer World - Oxfam 50th Anniversary Touring Exhibition, UK
1991-93		Africa Explores - New and Renewed Forms in 20th Century African Art, New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York; University Art Museum, Berkley; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; St. Louis Museum of Art; Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington DC, USA; Ludovic Forum, Aachen, Germany; Espace Lyonnaise d’Art Contemporain, Lyon, France; Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain; Tate Gallery, Liverpool, UK
1991		The South of the World, Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, Marsala, Sicily Art ’91, Islington, London, UK Two Man Show, Marcus & Marcus Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1990		JAPE (Japanese Association for Promotion of Creative Events), Tokyo, Japan Art ’90, Flowers East, London, UK Art ‘90, Sue Williams, London, UK Rainforest Festival - The Arts for the Earth Exhibition, Barbican Centre, London, UK Five Contemporary Artists, Redfern Gallery, London, UK Contemporary Art Society Market, London, UK Small is Beautiful , Angela Flowers, London, UK
1989-90		Time and Motion, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle; City Art Centre, Edinburgh; The Minories, Colchester, UK
1987		Conceptual Clothing, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK Performance in Art/Art Performance, Castle Museum, Nottingham, UK Springing to Life, Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, UK Influences, South London Art Gallery, London, UK Palm Trees, West African Music Village, Kew Gardens, London, UK
1986-87		From Two Worlds, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; Fruit Market Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
1986		In the Eye of the Sun, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Five Festival Sculptors, Stoke-on-Trent Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK MA Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK The National Garden Festival, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Contemporary Art Fair, Covent Garden, London, UK
1985		Visual Aid for Band Aid, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK Artists Against Apartheid, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK New Horizons, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK Contemporary African Art, The Learning Material Centre, Highbury, London, UK
1984		Textiles Making and Meaning, Brixton Art Gallery, London, UK Graham Park Festival, Graham Park Library, London, UK African Music Village, Commonwealth Institute, London, UK
1983		Amy Sadur Friedlander Memorial Art Fund, Swiss Cottage Gallery, London, UK New Contemporaries, ICA, London, UK Christie’s Inaugural Show, London, UK Sculptural Drawings , Ruskin College, Oxford, UK

Awards
2008		Governor, University of the Arts, London
2007		Vice-President Kalabari Union
2007		Culture and Heritage Award - The 4th Annual Black Business Award, UK
2006		Honorary Fellow of University of the Arts, London
2005		Awarded CBE
2004		Finalist for Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, London
2000		Commonwealth Grant
1983		Princess of Wales Scholarship and Henry Moore Bursary
1982		Saatchi & Saatchi Award
1981		Amy Sadur Friedlander Prize

Selected Collections

American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
British Museum, London, UK
Bremen Museum, Germany
Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas, Spain
Citibank Corporation
Fitchburg Art Museum, Boston, USA
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada
Horniman Museum, London, UK
Leicestershire Education Authority, UK
Leicestershire Museums, UK
Minneapolis Museum of Art, USA
Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Skidmore University, New York, USA
Standard Charted Bank, London, UK
National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington DC, USA
Unilever, London, UK
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, UK
St. Thomas’s Hospital, South London, UK
Michael Graham-Stewart, London, UK
Collection Hans J. Bogatzke, Herdecke, Germany
Collection Artur und Heidrun Elmer, Aalen, Germany
International Finance Corporation, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA

SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

SELECTED WORKS

FROM OUR STORE

SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP

OCTOBER GALLERY ARTISTS