Santiago Mostyn | The Final Letters of Jackie Creft
Image: Santiago Mostyn, Dream One, Södertälje Konsthall. Photo: Jean-Baptiste Béranger
Commissioned by Primary, Santiago Mostyn, a Stockholm-based artist, will present his first solo project in the UK, The Final Letters of Jackie Creft. He will spend three weeks in Studio A4 developing this digital commission, which will be shown online.
The hope is to bring forward the legacy of the Grenada Revolution (1979–1983) as a template for imagining how radical forms of pedagogy and political self-determination can manifest in present-day Britain. The research and output of this project will engage a process of ‘emotional memory’, revisiting the lives of underrepresented figures in the history of Black radicalism to plot a path forward.
Santiago is a British citizen who grew up in postcolonial contexts on both sides of the Black Atlantic—Africa and the Caribbean—and experienced the British school system from beginning to end. Even more importantly, his displacement from Grenada as a child during the US military invasion was a foundational trauma. During the US invasion of Grenada in October 1983, Santiago’s parents lived on the island, teaching in a primary school and working for Radio Free Grenada. His unique perspective, marked by both distance from and deep immersion in the discussion surrounding British identity in the visual arts, has informed his work. This commission represents the culmination of a lifetime spent developing an artistic language centred on themes of belonging and identity.
The Final Letters of Jackie Creft is supported by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
Santiago Mostyn received a BA from Yale University and an MA from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. His recent exhibitions include After the Sun—Forecasts from the North at Buffalo AKG Art Museum (2024); The Threshold Is a Prism (2023) at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, in Stockholm; Mare Amoris | Sea of Love (2023) at UQ Art Museum, in Meanjin/Brisbane; Dream One (2022) at Södertälje Konsthall, in Sweden; The Show Is Over (2022) at the South London Gallery; 08-18 (Past Perfect) (2022) at Gerðarsafn Art Museum, in Kópavogur, Iceland; and The Real Show (2022) at CAC Brétigny, in France. Mostyn cocurated The Moderna Exhibition 2018: With the Future Behind Us, a survey of contemporary Swedish art, and was a resident at Künstlerhaus Bethanien (2021) and a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude (2022, 2024).