BLK Art Group

This Black History Month, we have put together a display of art books by the BLK Art Group.

The BLK Art Group were pioneers of the Black Art Movement in the U.K. during the 1980s, and were formed in Wolverhampton, with close links to the University of Wolverhampton and the West Midlands.

Originally called the Wolverhampton Black Artists Group, the BLK Art Group was founded in 1979. The group comprised Eddie Chambers, Keith Piper, Donald Rodney and Marlene Smith, all raised in the West Midlands by Caribbean Migrants. Other Artists involved in the group over time include Claudette Johnson, Lubaina Himid, Dominic Dawes, and Ian Palmer. The group sought to empower black artists, question what ‘Black Art’ was, and what it could be in the future. Their first exhibition, Black Art An’ Done (hosted over the road at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 1981), focussed on the black community and the challenges they faced from racial prejudice.

They continued to host exhibitions throughout the West Midlands and across the country in large and small galleries. Their art was mixed media, comprising paintings, photos, conceptional art, sculptures, and installations, but all was noted for its bold political stance critiquing race, class and gender in the U.K.

In 1982, they organised the first National Black Art Convention held at the University of Wolverhampton (then called Wolverhampton Polytechnic).

That same year, they rebranded as the BLK Art Group and involved black artists across the country, becoming highly influential in the UK’s Black Art Movement of the 1980s. Their legacy has shaped British Art ever since.

In our display case, we showcase work by some of the key artists of the movement:

• Donald Rodney: Doublethink 
• Keith Piper: Jet Black Futures 
• Claudette Johnson: Presence 
• Eddie Chambers: Black People and the British Flag

Around the display case we also have posters from the BLK Art Group Research Project, which was set up in 2011 by Keith Piper, Claudette Johnson, and Marlene Smith to study their legacy.