Comprising two new bodies of work, the solo exhibition “Lubaina Himid: Make Do and Mend” presented by the FLAG Art Foundation, New York, ushers in a dynamic new chapter in the Himid’s long and storied career. On view through February 8, 2025, the show is co-organized by the Contemporary Austin, where it was previously on view earlier this year. The exhibition coincides with the British artist’s receiving the 2024 Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize, celebrating her unique contributions and achievements as a visual artist.
The award, first introduced in 2016 and overseen by the Contemporary Austin, was established by Suzanne Deal Booth and later expanded in partnership with collector Glenn Fuhrman, and along with a monetary element includes the comprehensive production of a solo exhibition at both institutions.
Lubaina Himid, Cosmic Dentistry (2023). Photo: Eva Herzog. © Lubaina Himid. Courtesy the artist, Hollybush Gardens, and Greene Naftali Gallery.
Himid was born in 1954 in Zanzibar but moved to the U.K. with her mother while still an infant. She studied theater design and cultural history at the Wimbledon College of Art and the Royal College of Art respectively. A pioneer of the Black Art Movement of the 1980s, Himid has described herself as a “painter and a cultural activist.” Her work and practice are recognized for their incisive explorations of cultural and social histories and identity, and in 2017 she was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize.
Lubaina Himid, Bitter Battles. Photo: Andy Keate. © Lubaina Himid. Courtesy the artist, Hollybush Gardens, and Greene Naftali Gallery.
“Make Do and Mend” continues many of the thematic explorations Himid has come to be associated with. The first of the two bodies of work created for this exhibition are the “Strategy Paintings,” wherein Black men and women are depicted at tables that display collections of objects, such as lemons in Bitter Battles (2023) or larger-than-life teeth in Cosmic Dentistry (2023). These enigmatic vignettes highlight ideas around decision making and power, and, more specifically, who has it. Continuing the thread, chairs have been installed throughout the installation, presented as sites where visitors can stop and reflect.
Installation view of “Lubaina Himid: Make Do and Mend” (2024). Photo: Steven Probert. Courtesy of the FLAG Art Foundation, New York.
In “Aunties,” the second body of work included in the show, Himid continues her practice of creating works on planks of wood, tapping the visual culture of East Africa and more specifically funerary objects, as well as referencing the figure of the “auntie.” Installed in various orientations within the gallery space, visitors gain a hyperawareness of said space, offering a refreshed perspective on both the materials from which they are made and the intrinsic influence of the context in which they are shown.
Installation view of “Lubaina Himid: Make Do and Mend” (2024). Photo: Steven Probert. Courtesy of the FLAG Art Foundation, New York.
Commenting on the opportunities the show provided at its second venue, Director of The FLAG Art Foundation Director Jonathan Rider said, “In many ways and forms, Himid’s practice makes private moments public, and in doing so invites viewers to project their own experiences and histories onto the work. Presenting Himid across two venues, each with distinct regional contexts, allows for differing conversations, programming, and possibilities to occur. Himid has spoken about the exhibition as a site for chance encounters, and we look forward to seeing how audiences between Austin and New York inhabit, activate, and interact with the theatrical and deeply personal world she creates.”
“Lubaina Himid: Make Do and Mend” is on view at the FLAG Art Foundation, New York, through February 8, 2025.