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Autograph is loaning 3 photographs from our collection by artist Rotimi Fani-Kayode to the 24th Biennale of Sydney: Ten Thousand Suns.
Fani-Kayode produced a complex body of photographic work, exploring themes of race, sexuality, spirituality, and the self. His masterfully staged and crafted portraits, sometimes quietly monochromatic and at other times rich in saturated color, stand as powerful, resolutely ambiguous, visual statements. At the core of Fani-Kayode’s practice is an important emphasis on the cultural politics of difference.
The 24th Biennale of Sydney works across time periods, beyond the borders separating cultural practices rooted in different genealogies, and from all continents. The edition owes a profound debt to the rich heritage of what is known today as Australia, especially to the struggles and practices in which First Nations communities and migrants have played key roles.
The artists’ practices are firmly rooted in diverse communities and artistic vocabularies, inviting audiences to bear witness to multiple histories. The exhibition carries hope to resist the mainstream mindsets of perpetual crisis that often leads to inaction.
The 24th Biennale of Sydney proposes celebration as both a method and a source of joy, produced in common and broadly shared, drawing inspiration from histories of queer coming-together to thrive in spite of it all. It invokes a spirit of abundance and generosity as powerful political tools. This edition revisits legacies of collective resistance, strength, and exuberance, while celebrating the exhibition as a carnival of rays and radiance, aptly titled Ten Thousand Suns.
Ten Thousand Suns is presented in venues city-wide across Sydney
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace, Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, UNSW Galleries, White Bay Power Station and Sydney Opera House
Find directions, opening hours, accessibility and ticketing information on Biennale of Sydney's website
A founding signatory and one of the first chairs of Autograph, Fani-Kayode was actively engaged in the Black British art scene during the 1980s.
His photographs have been exhibited internationally since 1985, with numerous solo and group exhibitions in Europe, America and Africa. In 2003, his work featured in the African Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale, Italy and today his works are represented in major public and private collectors including Tate, Guggenheim Museum; Victoria & Albert Museum; The Walther Collection; The Hutchins Center; Kiasma-Museum of Contemporary Art; and the collection of Yinka Shonibare CBE, amongst others.
Banner image: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Sonponnoi, 1987. Courtesy of Autograph, London.
About the artist: Sunil Gupta, Portrait of Rotimi Fani-Kayode. © and courtesy Sunil Gutpa
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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