An outdoor display of works by a talented artist who lost her life in the Grenfell Tower fire opened today in Notting Hill.
Breath is Invisible is a three-month public art project which includes works by Khadija Saye, who died in the blaze in June 2017.
Nine large-scale prints of the British-Gambian artist’s most celebrated works are being shown across the outside façade of 236 Westbourne Grove.
Khadija Saye, also known as Ya-Haddy Sisi Saye, was a Gambian-British artist, activist and carer, who was killed in the Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017, aged just 24. Despite her young age Khadija achieved recognition as a hugely talented artist and had produced significant work, showing extraordinary promise for the future. Saye was the youngest exhibitor in the Diaspora Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale, where her work was shown alongside artists such as Isaac Julien and Yinka Shonibare.
This series of self-portraits was made for the Diaspora Pavilion. Titled in this space we breathe, the works explore ‘the migration of the traditional Gambian spiritual practices’. The work was part of Khadija’s exploration of her identity, heritage and mixed-faith background. Khadija’s parents were both from The Gambia; her mother, who died with her in the Grenfell Tower re, was a Christian and her father, who survives her, is Muslim. Khadija described her artistic practice as a means to explore ‘the deep-rooted urge to find solace in a higher power’. Khadija’s medium for this work was wet plate collodion tintype, which is a precarious, fragile method of printing.
Ms Saye’s work is the first of three exhibitions to run at the space, all of which aim to explore social inequality and injustice.
| Duration | 07 July 2020 - 07 August 2020 |
| Times | 24 hour |
| Cost | Free |
| Venue | 236 Westbourne Grove |
| Address | London W11 2RH, , |
| Contact | / info@breathisinvisible.com / www.breathisinvisible.com/ |