Lola Flash [SUR]PASSING

Working at the forefront of genderqueer visual politics for more than three decades, photographer Lola Flash’s work challenges stereotypes and gender, sexual, and racial preconceptions.

Her art and activism are profoundly connected, fuelling a life-long commitment to visibility and preserving the legacy of LGBTQIA and communities of colour worldwide.

At the core of this exhibition is Flash’s series [sur]passing. Emphasising varying shades of skin tone, these larger-than-life portraits feature a spectrum of global diasporic figures posed against urban skylines – probing the impact of pigmentation on black identity and consciousness.

The scale of each photograph and the assertive gaze of the sitters invite contemplation of different lived experiences. Flash aims to foreground the complexities encompassing racial identities, and highlight the prejudices faced by black communities based on complexion.