Photo credits: Anna Watson - Femi Dawkins, Rites Of Passage, 2023, Gagosian Gallery, Britannia Street.
Ellae & Amsterdam Art Week invite you to: Neo-Expressionism: Amsterdam Chronicles by Femi Dawkins
Solo Exhibition & Fringe Program Amsterdam Art Gallery - Capital C. 31/05/23 - 04/06/23.
A child of the diaspora and its migratory movements, Femi Dawkins travels through in-between worlds. With his neo-expressionism and Afro-surrealism, he portrays and challenges the zeitgeist time and again. He finds his inspiration in both the upper current and the veiled undercurrent of cultural social behavior and gilds that movement in vibrant colors and bold imagery. With Afro-Caribbean roots and an education in New York and Los Angeles, Dawkins developed at a time when art, music, fashion, pop culture and all social classes, young and old, met and influenced each other, forming his multidisciplinary artistic practice.
Ever since the 1990s, Femi Dawkins has been a pioneer in the Amsterdam art world. Among other things, he built support for narratives and narrative forms that were then placed in the periphery and underground. He was among the vanguard that paved the way for the recognition and embrace of the genres Urban Arts and Spoken Word in the Dutch performing arts.
This exhibition honors Femi Dawkins' thirty-two years of artistic research and is his first solo exhibition in Amsterdam.
In 2022, Femi Dawkins received the Gieskes-Strijbis Podium Prize, Lisson Gallery Scholarship, Almacantar Prize Award, as well as Niemeijer Foundation Fund (2021), Prince Bernhard Fund (2020), and Ford Fellowship (1991). He recently received his MFA Fine Art (Cum laude) from Goldsmiths, University of London.
This exhibition is a collaboration between Amsterdam Art & Ellae Foundation and has been specially developed for Amsterdam Art Week.
Program:
Wednesday, May 31 (Limited spots available)
17.00 - 18.30 Opening at Capital C, with a short introduction by Femi about his work and welcome speech by the director of Amsterdam Art Week, Martina Halsema.
20.00 - 22.00 Kick-off talks and drinks Amsterdam Art Week & Amsterdam Museum in Pakhuis de Zwijger. In this program Femi will close the evening with an artist statement on the future of the art sector in Amsterdam. Read more here.
Thursday, June 1
15.30 - 16.15 Artist talk Femi Dawkins in Capital C. This is an event dedicated to the exhibition and Femi, open to the public, with an introduction and a tour of the exhibition. (Also available online). Read more here.
Friday 2 June
The exhibition can be visited during the day until 19:00 due to a closed evening program.
Saturday 3 June & Sunday 4 June
The exhibition can be visited from 08:00-20:00.
Location: Amsterdam Art Gallery | Capital C
Address: Weesperplein 4B, 1018 XA Amsterdam
Opening hours: 08:00-20:00
Admission: Free
