SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP
There has never been any doubt in my mind as to how sculptures and masks... should be presented. I always found it strange to be confronted in a museum with a bodiless mask... pinned to the wall. Where was the rest of it?
-Sokari Douglas Camp, 1999
Sokari Douglas Camp was born in Buguma, Nigeria. She studied at California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland (1979-80), before completing a BA with Honors in Sculpture at the Central School of Art and Design, London (1980-83), and then an MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London (1983-86).
Although Douglas Camp has lived and worked in the U.K. for over twenty-five years, her work, predominately sculpted in steel, is strongly influenced by African culture and inspired by her Kalabari heritage.
She has exhibited internationally and notable solo shows include: Spirits in Steel - The Art of the Kalabari Masquerade at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (1998-9); and Imagined Steel at The Lowry Arts Centre, Manchester, which toured to Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno; Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester; and Derby Museum and Art Gallery (2002-03).
Douglas Camp's work is to be found in collections around the world including: the American Museum of Natural History, New York; the British Museum, London; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo; and the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.
She has completed numerous commissions and her proposal, NO-O-War No-O-War-R, was shortlisted for Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. Her 'Living Memorial' to the late Nigerian activist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa was unveiled in 2006.
In 2005 Douglas Camp was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
SOLO |
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Relative Pelican: An Installation of Steel Sculptures, Stux Gallery, New York | 2010 | |
Pain and Paradise - Stahlskulpturen, Kunstverein, Aalen, Germany Festival Boat Project (Ongoing) in association with the Lowry Centre, Greater Manchester, UK | 2009 | |
The Pleasure of Seeing You: Sculpture and Fabric Patterns, Lethaby Gallery CSM, London | 2008 | |
Strength of Feeling, New Art Exchange Nottingham, UK | 2008 | |
One Day Exhibition: Resistance and Remembrance 1807- 2007, The British Museum, London | 2007 | |
The World is Richer, Wallspace, All Hallows on the Hall, London. | 2007 | |
Sweeping, Camberwell College of Arts, London | 2006 | |
11th Commandment Sculpture Tour, Peckham, Bexley & Enfield | 2005 | |
Galerie Peter Herrmann, Berlin, Germany | 2004 | |
Imagined Steel, The Lowry Arts Centre, Manchester | 2003 | |
Knots of the Human Heart - Morley Gallery, London. | 2000 | |
Black History Month- Maritime Museum, London | 2000 | |
National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA | 1999 | |
Spirits in Steel: The Art of the Kalabari Masquerade- American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA | 1998-99 | |
American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY | 1998 | |
National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA | 1997 | |
Steel Stories , Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham | 1996 | |
Plays and Display - Museum of Mankind, British Museum, London | 1995 | |
Urban Walk - Barbican Centre, London | 1994 | |
Peopling of London, Museum of London | 1994 | |
Steel Clothes and Ornamentation, Redfern Gallery, London | 1993 | |
Urban Women, South Bank Centre, London; Sue Williams, London | 1992 | |
Market People, Chelsea Arts Club, London; Pittminster Studio, Taunton | 1991 | |
Echoes of the Kalabari - National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA | 1989 | |
Alali-Sculpture by Sokari Douglas Camp – Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool; | 1988 | |
Sculpture in collaboration with Sekiapu dance troop -Africa Centre, London. | 1989 | |
Alali -Touring, October Gallery, London; Ikon Gallery, Birmingham Milton Keynes Exhibition Gallery (86’), Dorman Museum, Middlesborough | 1987 | |
Artist of the Day-Angela Flowers, London | 1984 | |
Alali (Festival Time) – Africa Centre, London | 1982 |
GROUP
Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College | 2011 | |
BM Treasures exhibition, Madrid | 2010 | |
Joburg Art Fair, Arthouse Auction House, South Africa | 2010 | |
Gaia Auction, Paris, France | 2009 | |
Identity and Self-Fashioning 1965-2009, Neuberger Museum of Art | 2009 | |
Roots and More: Journey of the Spirit, Africa Museum, Netherlands | 2009 | |
A Celebration of British Sculpture, Harold Martin Botanic Garden, University of Leicester | 2009 | |
Now we are Ten Campaign for Drawing, KRÉYOL Factory, Parc de la Villette, France, Le Panaf revient Alger, | 2009 | |
Islands and their Worlds, Paris, France, | 2009 | |
Joburg Art fair, CCA Booth | 2009 | |
In the Light of Play, Durban Museum | 2009 | |
Black Womanhood, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth New Hampshire, | 2008 | |
Design Without End: The Essential Art of African Textiles, Metropolitan Museum of Art | 2008 | |
Poetics of cloth: African Textiles/ Recent art, Grey Art Gallery, New York University | 2008 | |
Dialogue, ARTCO, Germany, Salon D’ Art Contemporain African Bruxelles | 2008 | |
ARESUVA African Regional Summit and Exhibition on Visual Art, Abuja, Nigeria | 2008 | |
Remembering Saro-Wiwa: The Living Memorial, Goldsmiths, London, | 2007 | |
Alternative Narratives, The Alpha House, London | 2007 | |
In and Out of Africa, with ARTCO Galerie, Haus Der Volker (HDV), Austria | 2007 | |
Teue Noire, Museum of Maurice Denis, Paris, France | 2007 | |
Afrika! Afrika!, Munich, Berlin, Germany | 2006 | |
Sokari Douglas Camp | Nicole Guiraud | Marcia Wok Kure | Louzla Darabi | 2006 | |
‘Black President, The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio | 2005 | |
Ground Force – A Garden for Africa, Endemol UK Production for BBC, British Museums | 2005 | |
Music in African Fine Art, Galerie im Waschhaus, Africa Festival Potsdam, Frankfurt, Germany | 2005 | |
Insights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC | 2004 | |
Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, Barbican Art Galleries, London, England | 2004 | |
Exhibition of Contemporary African Art, The Bagagehal, Amsterdam | 2003 | |
Royal Academy Summer Show 2003 | 2004 | |
Africa Past Present and Future Westbourne Gallery, London | 2003 | |
Small is Beautiful XXI, Flowers Central, London | 2003 | |
DAK’ART 2002 la Biennale de l’Art African Contemporain, Senegal. | 2002 | |
The Commonwealth 2002 and beyond, Commonwealth Institute, London | 2002 | |
Encounters with the Contemporary – Smithsonian National Museum of Art Sainsbury/ African Galleries – The British Museum | 2001 | |
The Artist and the City – Centre de Contemporania de Barcelona, Spain | 2001 | |
Black History Month - National Maritime Museum, London | 2000 | |
Women to Women - University Art Gallery, Indiana State University | 2000 | |
Les Champs de la Sculpture No.2 - Champs Elysees, Paris, France | 2000 | |
Transatlantic Dialogues, Contemporary Art In and Out of Africa – Auckland | 1999 | |
Around and Around Europe, Africa and USA - Peter Herman Gallery, Germany | 1998 | |
British Figurative Sculpture pt.2 - Flowers East, London | 1998 | |
Forja el Espacia - Centro d’Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | 1998 | |
National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan | 1997 | |
Havana Biennale - Havana, Cuba | 1997 | |
Die Andere Reise (The Other Journey) - Kunste Hallie Krems, Austria | 1996 | |
African Metalwork - Crafts Council | 1995 | |
An Inside Story, African Art of our Time :- Setegaya Art Museum, Tokyo | 1995 | |
Another Country - Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | 1994 | |
Art for a Fairer World - Oxfam 50th Anniversary Exhibition | 1995 | |
Africa Explores - New and renewed forms in 20th Century African Art, New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York, USA | 1991-93 | |
The South of the World - Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, Marsala, Sicily | 1991 | |
JAPE (Japanese Association for Promotion of Creative Events) - Tokyo, Japan | 1990 | |
Rainforest Festival - The Arts for the Earth Exhibition - Barbican Centre London | 1990 | |
Time and Motion - Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle | 1989-90 | |
Conceptual Clothing - Ikon Gallery, Birmingham | 1987 | |
Palm Trees - West African Music Village, Kew Gardens, London | 1987 | |
From Two Worlds - Whitechapel Art Gallery, London | 1986 | |
In the Eye of the Sun - Doese Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand | 1986 | |
Five Festival Sculptors - Stoke on Trent Museum & Art Gallery | 1986 | |
MA Show - Royal College of Art, London | 1986 | |
Visual Aid for Band Aid - Royal Academy of Arts, London | 1985 | |
Artist Against Apartheid - Royal Festival Hall, London | 1985 | |
Textiles Making and Meaning - Brixton Art Gallery, London | 1984 | |
New Contemporaries - ICA, London | 1983 | |
Christie’s Inaugural Show | 1983 |
SELECTED COMISSIONS
Potters Field Commission For Southhwark Council London “First Man” Burgess Park Memorial Sculpture. Southwark Council Amrita Court, Urban Solutions, Bermondsey Brewery Arts, Cirencester | ONGOING | |
Aylesbury New Deal for Communities,Walworth Academy. Love and Live | 2008 | |
Remember Ken Saro-Wiwa: The Living Memorial | 2006 | |
Banners for Choumert Road, Southwark Council | 2005 | |
Sculpture of ‘Feast of Neptune’ for Deutsche Welle, Bonn, Germany | 2004 | |
Designing Choumert Market, Bellenden – the Art of Regeneration/ and Southwark Council, Peckham. | 2003 | |
Sculpture for Meridian Hotel, Port Harcourt, Nigeria | 2002-03 | |
Sculpture for Gallmore Homes, Pioneer Building. St Marys Street | 2001 | |
Nando’s Restaurants | 1998-04 | |
Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan | 19975 | |
Horniman Museum, London, Africa Centrum, Maastricht, Holland | 1992 | |
Glenfield General Hospital, Leicester | 1987 |
AWARDS
Vice President Kalabari Union Culture and Heritage Award - 4th Annual Black Business Award 2007 | 2007 | |
Honorary Fellow of University of the Arts London | 2006 | |
Awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) | 2005 | |
Finalist, 4th Plinth, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London | 2004 | |
Princess of Wales Scholarship and Henry Moore Bursary | 1983 | |
Saatchi & Saatchi Award | 1982 | |
Amy Sadur Friedlander Prize | 1981 |
RESIDENCIES
Vermont Studio Centre USA | 2009 | |
Nottingham Castle Museum, Nottingham Freyerns School, Basildon | 1987 | |
Dowse art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Africa Centre, London | 1986 |
COLLECTIONS
British Museum, London | ||
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, U.K | ||
Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA | ||
Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan | ||
Minneapolis Museum of Art, USA | ||
Horniman Museum, London | ||
Glenbow Museum, Canada | ||
Citibank Corporation | ||
Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | 2004 | |
American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA | 2002-2005 | |
Private Collections in Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Spain and USA. | 2002-2005 |