Detail from ‘Requiem’ by Chris Ofili
Dear Readers, today I went off to Tate Britain, in theory to see the exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s paintings of fashionable women in lovely frocks, but instead I found myself awestruck by this mural, painted by Chris Ofili on the main staircase. I’d heard nothing about it, but it’s about Grenfell, and in particular artist Khadija Saye. Ofili had met her in 2017 at the Venice Bienniale, but she perished along with her mother in the fire in 2017.
The first image, ‘Chapter One’, represents a prophet presenting the burning tower to us. His tears fall into an ocean of despair. The souls of the people are escaping as embers or falling into the water.
In Chapter Two, Khadija Saye is shown at the centre of an energy force. She holds an andichurai (a Gambian incense pot) to her ear – the pot was precious to Saye, as it belonged to her mother. Ofili tells us that it symbolises Saye’s dual faith heritage of Christianity and Islam, and invites us to imagine the sound of calm solace here.
To me, the image is disturbing, almost as if Saye is melting or fading away. Maybe that’s the point. You can see some of Saye’s photographic images, including the one that this painting is based upon, here.
In Chapter Three, the spirit of the souls emerge from the sky and the water to arrive in a paradise-like landscape, where two mythical beings play a hopeful melody on their instruments. The colours of the burning tower turn into a sunrise. The water links collective grief to both Venice, where Saye and Ofili met, and Trinidad, Ofili’s home.
The artwork will be in place for a decade. Will the survivors of Grenfell see justice before the mural is painted over? I’d like to think so, but I somehow doubt it. It’s good to have a reminder, though, that no one has been held to account for the death of 72 people in the Grenfell fire.
After this, the Sargent exhibition seemed pretty but trivial. What wasn’t, though, was the ‘Women in Revolt‘ exhibition, about feminism and art in the 1980s. What a trip down memory lane this was! ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches! Greenham Common! Consciousness Raising Sessions! ‘It starts as you sink in his arms, and ends with your arms in his sink!’ The ‘Don’t Do It Di’ protests when Princess Diana was marrying Prince Charles! Holy moly. There were lots of women ‘of a certain age’ who were probably there (like me) but lots of younger women too. I think we thought that a lot of those battles were won, but you only have to look at what’s happening in the US and some parts of Europe to see that the war goes on.
I was so carried away that I didn’t take many photos, but this piece stopped me in my tracks.
This piece is by Marlene Smith, and shows Dorothy (Cherry) Groce, who was shot by a police raid on her home in Brixton in 1985. She was paralysed and eventually died from the effects of the incident in 2011. The incident sparked major unrest in Brixton. The police eventually apologised to Groce (and her family) in 2014, and also apologised for the length of time that it had taken to apologise. The piece was remade by Smith in 2023, after the original piece was lost.
So, there’s pretty much for something for everyone at Tate Britain at the moment. The Ofili mural is free, but both the Sargent and the Revolting Women exhibitions have an entry fee – if you go to see a lot of art the Tate Friends scheme is definitely worth a look.
And here’s a plug for something else for us ‘women of a certain age’. On Charing Cross Road there used to be a women’s bookshop called ‘Silver Moon’ and one of the founders, Jane Chomeley, has written a book about her time there. I haven’t read it yet (you should see my reading pile, Readers. It’s just as well that I’ve retired) but I am sure that it will be worth a read. It was while walking back to the tube from Silver Moon that I gave some money to some folk collecting for the Miner’s Strike. Instantly I realised that I didn’t have a single penny left to buy a ticket home, and there was no way that I was going to dig back into their bucket to reclaim my money, so I had to walk from Tottenham Court Road to Seven Kings. Still, I was in my twenties and it was a sunny day, and I had nowhere else to be.
Silver Moon bookshop in the 1980s
I always enjoy your blog enormously but so many interesting things today.
I had no idea about Chris Ofili’s mural, so thank you. I love his work and this looks so powerful and very moving.
I’m sad that I will miss the women in revolt exhibition, being also a woman of a certain age and feeling hopeful then that things would change. Sadly it seems that much of the change is superficial – we need to look no further than our own police force or many of our politicians, sadly.
The artwork by Marlene Smith was another powerful reminder. I remember being so shocked at the time.
And the Silver Moon bookshop! I spent hours and hours in there over the years, discovered so many women writers I would never otherwise have heard of. What an utter delight it was
It was quite a reminder of all the activity in the 1980s, and made me quite nostalgic for sure! There were lots of young women there, and I know that the next generation are also up for a fight, so that makes me hopeful. And yes, Silver Moon! I have bought the book (I couldn’t resist it) and so expect a review soon!
I recall being confronted by a number of in-your-face images, some rather disturbing, such as a dead horse hanging from the ceiling, at the Tate in 1999. It is a fascinating gallery though and well worth a visit, so I was pleased to ‘pop in’ along with you in this post.
I remember that exhibition! Also the Young British Artists one at the Royal Academy with Damien Hirst’s ‘Mother and Child Divided’ and Marc Quinn’s head made out of his own blood. Heady days!