Tam Joseph (1947, Dominica)
Spirit of the Carnival, 1988.
About:
Tam Joseph is recognised as one of the founding fathers of the Black art scene in the U.K. Arriving with his parents from Dominica in 1955 aged eight, he was brought up in London where his interest in art and art history was awakened by a voracious consumption of art reference books at his local library and later by attending life drawing classes. After a year’s foundation course at Central School of Art and Design he joined the Slade, where he was the only student of colour but left after a term, objecting to overbearing attempts to mould his work.
Flying Doctors.
Crime Rate is Rising.
Generators of Faith, 2016.
His exhibitions have included: Unexpected: continuing narratives on identity and migration, Ben Uri Gallery, London, 2016 No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990 at London’s Guildhall Art Gallery 2016 Dak’Art, Senegal, 2014, Caribbean Art at the Crossroads, El Museo del Barrio, Studio Museum in Harlem and Queens Museum, 2012; This is History, Gallery II and touring, 1998; Learning to Walk, Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling, and touring; Us and Dem, Storey Institute, Lancaster, 1994; Back to School, The Showroom, London, 1989; Black Art: Plotting the Course, Oldham Art Gallery and touring, 1988; Big Yellow, Bedford Hill Gallery, 1988; Painting and Sculpture, St Pancras Library and Shaw Theatre, London, 1986; Monkey Dey Chop, Baboon Dey Cry, Barbican Arts Centre, London, 1984.His work was included in the recent exhibition No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990 at London’s Guildhall Art Gallery (10 July 2015 – 24 January 2016)(text Ed Cross Fine Arts)