autograph, london

Mahtab Hussain: You Get Me?

5 May - 1 Jul 2017

Past Exhibition
Curated by Mark Sealy

Address

Autograph
Rivington Place
London EC2A 3BA, UK

past exhibition

This exhibition is now closed. View our current exhibitions here

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Mahtab Hussain’s photographs explore the critical question of identity among young working-class British Asian men.

You Get Me? addresses the contested political terrain of race and representation, respect and cultural difference. The men portrayed in Hussain’s portraits identify as Muslim, and expressed that they felt culturally ridiculed by the constant flow of derogatory media representation of their lives.

The 24 portraits in the exhibition examine how the weight of masculinity impacts the subject’s sense of self, as they navigate the complex identity formations historically placed upon them.

Hussain photographed the series over a nine-year period in Birmingham – where he grew up – stopping individuals in the street and starting conversations as he took their portrait. He later expanded the project to London and Nottingham.

in the press

EXHIBITION PREVIEW

Green chalk strip suit, 2017

Young man asleep, 2010

Shemagh, beard and bling, 2010

Young boy, white boxing gloves, 2010

special thanks

Special thanks to Light Work in Syracuse, New York for supporting the creation of this work during Mahtab Hussain’s Autograph ABP / Light Work Artist-in-Residence programme in 2015.

supported by

Banner image: Mahtab Hussain, Red t-shirt, baseball jacket, car [detail], from You Get Me?, 2012. Courtesy the artist.

Exhibition preview: 1) Mahtab Hussain, Green chalk stripe suit, from You Get Me?, 2017. Courtesy the artist. 2) Mahtab Hussain, Shemagh, beard and bling, from You Get Me?, 2010. Courtesy the artist. 3) Mahtab Hussain, Young man asleep, from the series You Get Me? 2012, Courtesy the artist. 4) Mahtab Hussain, Young boy, white boxing gloves, from the series You Get Me? 2012, Courtesy the artist.