Grace Wales Bonner opens fashion and art exhibition in London

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 22, 2019

Grace Wales Bonner, one of London Fashion Week’s rising stars, is holding a multidisciplinary exhibition taking place at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery until 16 February.

The is the first time a fashion designer has created a Serpentine exhibition, in a new series of annual short-duration projects looking into the fields of music, fashion, art and design.

A Central St Martins graduate, Grace Wales Bonner is recognised as one of the most innovative designers of her generation. Her designs reflect her experimental design approach, which sees her explore ideas of identity and self-expression by drawing elements from a variety of sources, including literature, art and music.

Her ongoing research into multiple geographies and temporalities, culminating in the presentation of her upcoming AW19 collection, shape the Serpentine exhibition. According to the gallery, ‘A Time for New Dreams’ is the environment for her AW19 fictional characters, such as the artist-shaman, a West African spiritual healer, and a gathering of Howard University intellectuals.

A multi-sensory installation acts as a “symbolic pathway” for imagining different worlds and possibilities, where an assemblage of works explore black cultural and aesthetic practices.

Featured in the exhibition are artists including Chino Amobi, Black Audio Film Collective, Liz Johnson Artur, David Hammons, Rotimi Fani Kayode, Kapwani Kiwanga, Eric N. Mack, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Ben Okri, Sahel Sounds and Grace Wales Bonner.

A live programme including composer and artist Klein, performance artist Michael-John Harper and novelist Ben Okri, will be held on selected days.

The project by Grace Wales Bonner is curated by Claude Adjil, curator at large, Live Programmes, and Joseph Constable, assistant exhibitions curator.