Alberta Whittle
Born 1980, Bridgetown; Lives in Glasgow;
Current & Forthcoming
| 2023 | ‘The Trembling Museum’, Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow |
| ‘Radical Shapeshifters’, Kunsthal Mechelen, Mechelen | |
| 2024 | ‘Dominique White and Alberta Whittle: Sargasso Sea’, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia |
| ‘Soulscapes’, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London | |
| ‘Surrealism and Us: Caribbean African Diasporic Artists since 1940’, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth | |
| ‘Learning a new punctuation for hope in times of disaster’, Regen Projects, Los Angeles | |
| Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2023 | ‘All About Love’, BUILDHOLLYWOOD, Edinburgh |
| ‘"Even in the most beautiful place in the world, our breath can falter".’, The Modern Institute, 14–20 Osborne Street, Glasgow | |
| ‘Alberta Whittle: between a whisper and a cry’, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles | |
| ‘create dangerously’, Modern One, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh | |
| ‘Dipping below a waxing moon, the dance claims us for release’, Holburne Museum, Bath | |
| 2022 | ‘Respectability won't save you: a Caribbean haunting’, Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York (curated by Arianna Nourse) |
| ‘Hope & Glory: Encountering Welcome’, Phoenix Art Space, Brighton | |
| ‘deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory’, 59th Venice Biennale, Venice | |
| 2021 | ‘Right of Admission Retrospective’, University of Johannesburg Gallery, Johannesburg (with Farieda Nazier) |
| ‘RESET’, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh | |
| ‘Sonia Boyce, In the Castle of My Skin’, mima, Middlesbrough | |
| ‘business as usual: hostile environment’, Glasgow Sculpture Studios (Part of Glasgow International 2021) | |
| 2020 | ‘No Mudder Country Here’, Grand Union, Birmingham |
| 2019 | ‘How flexible can we make the mouth’, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee |
| ‘Business as Usual’, Tyburn Gallery, London | |
| ‘Useless’, Pig Rock Bothy, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (with Emilio Bianchi) | |
| 2016 | ‘The Polity of Φ’, Glasgow Project Room and Intermedia, CCA, Glasgow (with Deniz Uster) |
| 2015 | ‘The Cradle’, Goethe On Main, Johannesburg (with Dean Hutton) |
| 2014 | ‘Right of Admission’, ROOM Gallery, Johannesburg (with Farieda Nazier) |
| 2010 | ‘badmanabadman’, Bridgetown Gallery, Barbados |
Group Exhibitions
| 2023 | ‘Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art, 1950s–Now’, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto |
| ‘Pictures of Us’, Gathering, London | |
| ‘Contested Bodies’, Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, The University of Leeds | |
| ‘Frieze Film × ICA Artists’ Film’, ICA, London | |
| ‘The Struggle of Memory – Deutsche Bank Collection’, Palais Populaire | |
| ‘Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance’, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge | |
| ‘El Dorado: Myths of Gold’, Americas Society, New York (Part I) | |
| ‘Rupture, Rapture: Womxn in Collage’, 16 Nicholson Street, Glasgow | |
| ‘Scottish Women Artists: 250 Years of Challenging Perception’, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh | |
| ‘Black Venus’, Somerset House, London | |
| ‘Exhibition: Tributaries’, The Line, The House Mill, London | |
| ‘Tales for a Stranger’, Maruani Mercier, Brussels | |
| ‘Her Blood Spoke: Joscelyn Gardner, Kara Springer & Alberta Whittle’, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto | |
| ‘Soft and weak like water’, 14th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju | |
| ‘Black Venus’, The Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco | |
| ‘Women to Watch UK: New Worlds at Christie’s’, Christie's , London | |
| ‘Fragments of Epic Memory’, Minneapolis Institute of Art (Touring Group Show) | |
| 2022 | ‘Twilight Land’, Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
| ‘Moving Bodies, Moving Images’, Whitechapel Gallery, London | |
| ‘ROCK MY SOUL II (Stockholm)’, Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm ( curated by Sir Isaac Julien) | |
| ‘Black Melancholia’, CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson | |
| ‘Devenir isla’, La Casa Encendida, Madrid | |
| ‘Scottish Women Artists Transforming Tradition’, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich | |
| ‘Revisiting the work of Black Artists in Scotland through New Collecting’, Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow | |
| 2021 | ‘Sex Ecologies’, Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway |
| ‘Life between islands: Caribbean British Art 1950s - Now’, Tate Britain, London | |
| ‘New Arrivals’, Modern One, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh | |
| ‘We Are History’, Somerset House, London | |
| ‘The Ghost Ship and the Sea Change’, Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Göteborg | |
| ‘Fragments of Epic Memory’, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto | |
| ‘Life Support: Forms of Care in Art and Activism’, Glasgow Women's Library, Glasgow | |
| ‘British Art Show 9’, Aberdeen Art Gallery (10 Jul – 10 Oct 2021); Wolverhampton Art Gallery & Wolverhampton School of Art (22 Jan – 10 Apr 2022); KARST, MIRROR , Plymouth College of Art, The Box, Plymouth & The Levinsky Gallery, University of Plymouth (8 Oct – 23 Dec 2022) | |
| ‘Art Night London’ | |
| ‘Liverpool Biennial 2021: The Stomach and the Port’, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool | |
| ‘An Infinity of Traces’, Lisson Gallery, London | |
| ‘A Miraculous Noise’, Viborg Kunsthal, Viborg | |
| ‘Miraculous Noise: Artists’ Moving Image from Glasgow’, Viborg Kunsthal, Viborg | |
| ‘SuperRoom: Ecosystems of Relations’, SUPER DAKOTA, Brussels | |
| ‘The Portrait in Focus’, Alma Zevi, Venice | |
| ‘Jupiter Rising’, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh | |
| ‘In The Castle Of My Skin’, mima, Middlesbrough | |
| 2020 | ‘Here be Dragons’, Copperfield, London |
| ‘In the Castle of My Skin’, Eastside Projects, Birmingham | |
| ‘Sonia Boyce: In the Castle of My Skin 25 January to 8 August 2020’, Eastside Projects, Birmingham | |
| 2019 | ‘The Imagined New’, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| ‘13th Havana Biennial’, Wilfredo Lam Center, Havana, Cuba | |
| ‘Displaced’, Travelling Gallery, Scotland | |
| 2018 | ‘Another Country’, City Art Centre, Edinburgh |
| ‘Stalking the Image, Margaret Tait and Her Legacy’, GOMA, Glasgow | |
| ‘TRANS’, University of Johannesburg Gallery, Johannesburg | |
| ‘there’s something in the conversation that is more interesting than the finality of (a title)’, The Showroom, London | |
| ‘Another Country’, Alice R. Rogers Gallery & Target Gallery, Minnesota, USA | |
| ‘Inner City’, GOMA, Glasgow | |
| ‘WOMXN’, De Balie, Amsterdam | |
| 2017 | ‘You never stand in the same water twice’, ROOM 113, Newcastle |
| ‘ANTE’, Suede Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| 2016 | ‘Rum Retort’, The Tobacco Warehouse, Greenock |
| ‘Hidden Door Festival’, Hidden Door Festival, Edinburgh | |
| ‘Between democracies 1989-2014: Memory and commemoration’, Kunsthalle Bratislava | |
| 2015 | ‘Between Democracies 1989-2014: Memory and Commemoration’, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| ‘Embodied Spaces’, FRAMER FRAMED, Amsterdam | |
| ‘Finite Project Altered When Open’, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow | |
| ‘Johannesburg Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale’, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice | |
| 2014 | ‘Resident 14’, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh |
| ‘International Artist Initiated’, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow | |
| ‘Where We’re At! Other Voices on Gender’, The Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR), Brussels | |
| ‘Transforming Spaces’, National Art Gallery , Bahamas | |
| ‘STOP MAKING SENSE’, The Bag Factory, Johannesburg, South Africa | |
| 2013 | ‘CARIFESTA XI’, CARIFESTA XI, Paramaribo, Suriname |
| ‘women.object.corpse’, Centre for African Studies, Cape Town, South Africa | |
| 2012 | ‘Streets of Gold’, Museum of London, London |
| ‘LOOPING’, Greatmore Studios, South Africa | |
| 2011 | ‘Split’, Arratia Beer and Sommer und Kohl, Berlin |
| ‘Pop Up Cocktail Bar and Love Club’, The Motorcycle Showroom, Bristol | |
| 2010 | ‘NWSP 10 Years’, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh |
| ‘The Secret Confession’, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh |
Solo Screenings
| 2024 | ‘Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation’, Byre Theatre, University of St Andrews |
| 2022 | ‘Lagareh — The Last Born’, Scotland+Venice Cinema Tour, Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Eden Court, Inverness; Mareel, Lerwick; Belmont Filmhouse, Aberdeen; Broadford Town Hall, Skye; Ayr Town Hall, Ayr |
| ‘The Axe Forgets But The Tree Remembers’, EartH, Hackney (7 September), The Rio Cinema, Hackney (21 September), National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (26 September) and Queen’s House, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (26 September) (commissioned as part of the Hackney Windrush Public Programme, curated by Create London in partnership with Hackney Council and funded by the Freelands Foundation) | |
| 2021 | ‘ART NIGHT 2021’, CCA Derry~Londonderry |
Group Screenings
| 2024 | GUT_BRAIN 1: Destructive Desires and Other Destinies of Excess, Small World Music Centre, Toronto |
| 2023 | ‘Videonale, Scope Festival #10’, Turistarama, Cologne |
| ‘SET Film Festival’, SET, London | |
| Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich | |
| ‘Earth Day Screening’, Lighthouse, Brighton | |
| 2021 | ‘Art Night Marathon’ (Online screening) |
| 2020 | ‘Glasgow Short Film Festival’, Civic House, Glasgow |
| ‘Kaleidoskop’, Karlsplatz, Vienna | |
| 2017 | ‘Self-Service’, CCA, Glasgow |
Projects
| 2022 | ‘Congregation (Creating Dangerously)’, Grand Union, Birmingham |
| 2019 | ‘Without Tides, An Invitation’, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh |
Commissions
| 2023 | ‘Feeling Blue’, Royal Museums Greenwich, London |
Performances
| 2023 | ‘Alberta Whittle: The Last Born — making room for ancestral transmissions’, Parliament Hall, Edinburgh (Edinburgh Art Festival 2023) |
| 2021 | ‘DIS: A Lesson in Reversal and Unlearning’, Two Temple Place, London |
Talks
| 2023 | ‘Create dangerously’, National Galleries of Scotland, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre |
| ‘The Past is Present: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration’, Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice, Vanderbilt University | |
| 2022 | ‘AfroScots: Revisiting the Work of Black Artists in Scotland through New Collecting’, GOMA, Glasgow |
Awards
| 2020 | Frieze Artist Award, |
| Turner Prize bursary, | |
| Henry Moore Foundation artist award, | |
| 2018 | Margaret Tait Award, |
Residencies
| 2021 | ‘Creating Dangerously’, CCA Derry~Londonderry |
Bibliography
Press
| 2024 | Lisa Anderson: ‘SOULSCAPES’, Dulwich Picture Gallery, 14/02/2024 |
| ‘Art shows to leave the house for in February 2024’, Dazed, 26/01/2024 | |
| 2023 | Alan Caldwell: Finding Beauty in Kindness: Alberta Whittle‘s Exhibition Explores Connected Histories, EnergyPortal.eu, 11/11/2023 |
| John-Baptiste Odour: ‘‘The Black Atlantic’ at 30: A Reappraisal’, ArtReview, 25/10/2023 | |
| ‘Beneath the blue’, Royal Museums Greenwhich, 05/10/2023 | |
| ‘New commissions and contemporary works part of Dovecot’s Scottish Women Artists’, Martin Cid Magazine, 07/07/2023 | |
| Paul Pieroni : Alberta Whittle‘s Political Project of Remembering, Art Review, 29/06/2023 | |
| Jareh Das: ‘How I became an artist: Alberta Whittle’, Art Basel, 22/06/2023 | |
| Holly Black: ‘The Rise of the Feminist Mermaid in an Age of Ecological Crisis’, Art Review, 21/06/2023 | |
| Neil Cooper: ‘Alberta Whittle: Create Dangerously’, The List, 25/05/2023 | |
| Harvey Dimond: ‘Ancestral Meditations: Alberta Whittle interview’, The Skinny, 11/05/2023 | |
| Cameron, Lucinda: ‘Legacy of racism explored in ‘hugely important’ Alberta Whittle exhibition’, The Independent, 30/03/2023 | |
| Jones, Jonathan: ‘Bath’s slavery past, an exiled Iraqi and Britain’s first celebs – the week in art’, The Guardian, 30/01/2023 | |
| Tewkesbury, Lydia;: ‘Shine a Light’, Bath Life, 27/01/2023 | |
| Clugston, Hannah: ‘A twisted tale of sugarand slaves: AlbertaWhittle uncoversawkward truths in UK show’, The Art Newspaper, 06/01/2023 | |
| 2022 | Heinrich, Kathrin: ‘Discover the Kabinett sector at Art Basel MiamiBeach’, Art Basel, 28/11/2022 |
| ‘A lineup without limits: the Jarman awardson tour – in pictures’, The Guardian, 22/09/2022 | |
| CSS Bard: ‘Black Melancholia’, CSS Bard, 25/06/2022 | |
| Beth Colocci & Nina Pearlman: ‘New Worlds / Women to Watch 2024’, UK Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 01/03/2022 | |
| Patrick Kurth: ‘Sex Ecologies’ Imagines Life in the Debris of Imperialism, Frieze, 24/02/2022 | |
| 2021 | e-flux: ‘Sex Ecologies’, e-flux, 02/12/2021 |
| Lauren Dei: ‘Inside a new exhibition joining the dots between art, colonialism and the climate crisis’, gal-dem, 10/11/2021 | |
| Precious Adesina: ‘The art exploring the truth about how climate change began’, BBC Culture, 25/10/2021 | |
| Inês Geraldes Cardoso: ‘Interview with Alberta Whittle: ‘RESET’’, this is tomorrow, 09/10/2021 | |
| Ben Luke: ‘A brush with... Alberta Whittle’, Art Newspaper, 11/08/2021 | |
| Ocula: ‘An Infinity of Traces’, Ocula, 13/04/2021 | |
| Gareth Harris: ‘Britishness, belonging and Blackness: artists reflect on complexities of cultural identity in new London show’, Art Newspaper, 08/02/2021 | |
| 2020 | Taylor Le Melle: ‘Playing (With) Ghosts’, Frieze Week, 10/2020 |
| Anna McNay: ‘Alberta Whittle – interview: ‘No one can find Barbados on a map, whereas everyone can find the UK. That level of inattention galvanises so much of my work ’’, Studio-International.co.uk, 05/09/2020 | |
| Gabriella Angeleti: Alberta Whittle named the winner of this year‘s Frieze Artist Award, Art Newspaper, 25/08/2020 | |
| Sarah Cascone: ‘10 Artists Will Each Get £10,000 Grants in Lieu of This Year’s Cancelled Turner Prize. Here’s a Look at Each of Them’, artnet, 02/07/2020 | |
| Ed Pavlic: ‘ALBERTA WHITTLE Business As Usual’, Source, 2020 | |
| 2019 | Raquel Villar-Pérez: ‘Artistic Work as a Form of Healing’, C&, 2019 |
Exhibition Reviews
| 2024 | Jonathan Jones: ‘Soulscapes review:glimpses of greatness get lost in the lush, tropical overgrowth’, The Guardian, 13/02/2024 |
| 2023 | Jonathan Jones: ‘Rage, ecstasy and painting turned up to 11 Edinburgh art festival review’, The Guardian, 08/08/2023 |
| Westall, Mark: ‘Alberta Whittle, Dipping below a waxing moon, the dance claims us for release’, FAD, 27/01/2023 | |
| 2022 | Cotter, Holland : ‘For Black Artists, the Motivating Power of Melancholia’, The New York Times, 23/06/2022 |
| Harris, Gareth; McGivern, Hannah; da Silva, José and Seymour, Tom: ‘Venice Biennale 2022: themust-see collateral exhibitionsaround the city’, The Art Newspaper, 21/04/2022 | |
| 2021 | Morris, Kadish : ‘Grief, loss and resurrections at Edinburgh art festival – review’, The Guardian, 05/08/2021 |
| Cornwell, Tim: ‘Black Lives Matter resonates throughout Edinburgh Art Festival’, The Art Newspaper, 02/08/2021 |
Publications
| 2019 | How Flexible Can We Make the Mouth, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee |