Jerwood/FVU Awards 2022 artist Michael. talks about his moving-image installation cleave to the BLACK in this edition of FVU Frames. Michael. is one of two recipients of the Jerwood/FVU Awards 2022. Following a nationwide call for applications at the beginning of 2020, each selected artist was awarded £25,000 to develop a significant new moving-image work with Film and Video Umbrella (FVU) for exhibition at Jerwood Arts and Leeds Art Gallery.
Michael.’s cleave to the BLACK echoes the art-historical tradition of the painted triptych in a three-screen video projection that offers a panoramic perspective on the legacies of the past that continue to leave an indelible mark on contemporary Black male experience. In this short FVU Frames, Michael. talks about his starting point and the politics of being a black male, questioning the space in between concepts of violence and joy, invisibility and hypervisibility, exploring these notions within the possibility of being both of the opposite concepts at once, and the possibility of pushing them all aside that can create room for a hope for freedom to explore and to rest. His process and influences are revealed, touching on how being a youth worker shaped the project and how the project lent itself to community building through workshops.
