Michael Forbes
Studio B5
Michael Forbes works with sculpture, installation, photography, and digital media to explore concepts of contemporary racial politics, migration, history, and religion, through a lens that challenges us to examine the dichotomy of blackness and whiteness. Blackness, metaphysics, ontology, and racial politics are all extensive areas of research and study which began when Forbes undertook his BA in Photography at Nottingham Trent University. Today, Forbes asks what, if anything, has society learned? Forbes embraces the term black as the category to which he belongs as a person.
Forbes is aware of the many connotations assigned to the word black which are out of his control and influence. Yet he embraces the term and colour black as an identity, a sound, a spelling, an aesthetic, and an emotional value. The existence of blackness is a given, yet it still demands recognition by the society that controls its representation. The supremacy of one race over another impacts on society; everyone loses. Through his art Forbes asks, as many people ask, ‘Do white supremacy and whiteness need to die, in order for us to realise equality?’ Throughout his work Forbes offers books as a gift - an opportunity to learn and understand the context of the societal structures he seeks to highlight.
Michael Forbes has exhibited nationally and internationally including selected exhibitions/projects: Blk this & Blk that ... a state of urgency at Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham (2022); The World as a Work in Progress, Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester (2021); Cut & Mix: Visual Representations of Black British Masculine Identities, New Art Exchange, Nottingham (2021); Space Lapse: RCA Sculpture (2020); Royal Sculpture Society, London (2021); Tomorrow: London, White Cube Gallery, London (2020); London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery (2020); Reformation, Guest Projects London (2018); Diaspora Pavilion, Venice to Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Art Gallery (2018); Diaspora Platform: International Curators Forum, Palazzo Santa Marina, 57th Venice Biennale (2017); CPT: Time, History and Memory, Gallatin Galleries, New York (2012).
Forthcoming solo exhibitions will take place at Saatchi Gallery, London (2023) and Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2023). Forbes is Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Associate Artist (2020 – 2023).
Forbes played a leading role in developing New Art Exchange, Nottingham, and shaping its early programme. He is a co-founder of Primary and Chair of the Board of Trustees. Forbes has a BA (Hons) in Photography from Nottingham Trent University (1998) and an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art (2020).
Image Credits: Profile photo, Vanley Burke; image gallery, Nick Dunmur.