WHAT? Hurvin Anderson

WHERE? Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG

WHEN? Now until 23rd August

WHY GO? For layers of memories. British-born artist Anderson keeps his Jamaican heritage alive, with a Caribbean vibe flowing through many of his colourful abstract paintings. His family are of the Windrush generation, which has undoubtedly influenced the sense of nostalgia he evokes, conjuring up places and memories of the Jamaica he visited as a child and later when he became artist-in-residence in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 2002.

This first major retrospective of Anderson’s work spans his whole career, after leaving the RCA in the early 1990s right up until now, showing some thirty years of work.

Anderson professes to have a ‘love hate thing’ about photographs, which are ironically often his inspiration. Many of his abstract works are inspired by photographs that recall specific memories, like populated barber shops, lush landscapes and family gatherings.

There’s often a social/political overtone, namely his radical 2016 painting, Is It Ok To Be Black, featuring key figures like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, focusing on the complexities of cultural history.

Anderson’s reflections of both Britain and the Caribbean are portrayed in the UK debut of his monumental multi-panel painting, Passenger Opportunity 2024–5, originally commissioned for the Pérez Art Museum in Miami, and the highlight of this bold atmospheric show.

IN THE KNOW On show alongside the exhibition, the acclaimed 1986 documentary Handsworth Songs by Ghanaian-born film director John Akomfrah adds context and relates how early immigrants from the Caribbean and South Asia faced racial tension and discrimination. It was produced by the Black Audio Film Collective.