HARD GRAFT
Artistic response to Wellcome Collection’s Hard Graft exhibition.
Curated by the guest curator Cindy Sissokho - the exhibition explores the impact of work on health. Bringing in historical and contemporary accounts, the exhibition is very much a colllection of underrepresented work, the people who do it and where it takes place. The three sites; the Plantation, The Street and The Home are chosen as locations where work is undervalued by society but is crucial to the function of society. The exhibition asks what kinds of work are valued and why. What traces does work leave on the body? How can work reinforce health inequalities and a lack of agency?
I was invited to create four illustrations to accompany each of the exhibition’s section texts. The illustrations show people in the spaces in which they work, ornamented by the healing plants and flowers that grow in the urban environment. The watercolour is a direct inspiration from one of the exhibiting artists, Ibrahim El Salahi, and his pain relief drawings done whilst he was a political prisoner in South Sudan. Following on from the illustrations, and working with the marketing team, we developed an overarching black and white image to capture the essence of the exhibition. This was then taken to the banners, tube posters and social media assets to promote the exhibition.
To visit the exhibition click here
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