Othello De’Souza-Hartley (born 1977, London) explores ideas around the human body as a site of embodiment, taking inspiration from classical paintings and art historical tableaux. His multi-faceted practice encompasses photography, film, performance, sound, drawing and painting.
Through an intimate – and ongoing – engagement with auto-portraiture, Othello De’Souza-Hartley often stages his own body in multiple settings, both private and public – from domestic interiors to vast industrial spaces. The result is a deeply personal, poetic mediation on notions of self and other, offering viewers different depictions of masculinity and vulnerability as visually performed ideas.
De’Souza-Hartley has been the recipient of numerous artistic commissions including from Camden Art Centre; The Photographers’ Gallery; Platform for Art and the National Portrait Gallery – his recent works have been exhibited at The Museum of Liverpool, UK; Shanghai Centre for Photography, China (2019); Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool and Gasworks, London.
You can follow the artist on Instagram and Twitter, and visit De'Souza-Hartley's website to see more of his work.
Works from Othello De'Souza-Hartley's commission Blind, but I can See, 2020, © and courtesy the artist, commissioned by Autograph for Care | Contagion | Community — Self & Other: 1) Absence, 2020 [detail]. 2) Blind, but I can See, 2020 Video, 5' 44". 3–5) Absence, 2020, Triptych, C-type prints, each 20 x 24 inches. 6) Room, C-type print, 20 x 24 inches. 7) Untitled, 2020 C-type print, 20 x 24 inches. 8) Garden, 2020, C-type print, 20 x 24 inches. 9) Study 17 (Blind, but I can See), 2020. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches.
Other page images: 10) Othello De'Souza-Hartley. Photograph by Nico Froechlich.
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