In this update, we celebrate the continued success and growth of our alumni, whose work spans diverse mediums, themes, and outputs. From solo exhibitions to prestigious fellowships and international recognition, they continue to push boundaries and make significant strides in their careers.
Elsa James Announces It Should Not Be Forgotten, a New Solo Exhibition
G.A.S. Alumna, Elsa James is proud to announce her new solo exhibition, It Should Not Be Forgotten, which boldly confronts Britain’s colonial past and its enduring impact on Black life, opening on Saturday, 29th March 2025 at Firstsite in Colchester. Through photography, neon, screen print, and sound, James examines the rupture, erasure, and fragmentation of diasporic histories while sparking dialogue on the psychological effects of transatlantic enslavement. Inspired by Christina Sharpe’s work on the haunting presence of the slave ship, the exhibition challenges Britain’s “national amnesia” and offers moments of understanding, healing, and community connection.The exhibition includes a soundscape, created in collaboration with sound artist Trevor Mathison, that incorporates a field recording from a sacred ceremony James attended during her residency at G.A.S. Foundation in November and December 2023.
This deeply immersive show invites audiences to engage with powerful new works that uncover overlooked histories. James' long-standing collaboration with Firstsite includes her Black Girl Essex residency and participation in Super Black. In 2024, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Essex for her work on Essex identity.
Exhibition Details
Date: 29th March 2025 - 6th July 2025
Venue: Firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester, Essex, UK
Elsa James: Living in the Wake of Lust for Sugar, Film Still, London Sugar and Slavery gallery, Museum of London, Docklands. Image: Andy Delaney 2023.
Emma Prempeh Opens Belonging In-Between, A Solo Exhibition
Tiwani Contemporary-represented artist, Emma Prempeh, has launched a new solo exhibition in Lagos, titled Belonging In-Between. This suite of paintings continues the latest body of works, which finds Prempeh pictorially considering landscape as physical and emotionally charged sites, drawing together the matrilineal experiences and memories of her grandmother and mother, Carmen, of whom the latter features very prominently. The series documents Carmen's return to St. Vincent last year with the artist, 40 years after migrating to London. It was Prempeh's first time in St. Vincent, visiting the homes and spaces that her mother lived in or were a feature of her childhood and early teens. For the artist, the process of witnessing her mother revisiting these locations enacted a reckoning with the present state of those sites and their changes over the years, as well as the stories her mother shared with her while growing up.
Exhibition Details
Date: 6th March 2025 - 24 May 2025
Venue: 13 Elsie Femi Pearse St, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
Emma Prempeh at the opening of Belonging In-Between, at Tiwani Contemporary Lagos.
Leo Robinson Receives the 2025 Arts Foundation Fellowship for Visual Arts
G.A.S. alumnus, Leo Robinson, has been awarded the 2025 Arts Foundation Visual Arts Fellowship, a prestigious £20,000 grant designed to support artistic development in the UK. The fellowship, granted by The Arts Foundation—a charity committed to nurturing emerging artists—provides crucial financial support at pivotal moments in an artist’s career, enabling them to experiment, develop, and expand their creative practice.
During his residency in Lagos, Robinson immersed himself in Nigeria's cultural and musical heritage, collaborating with traditional craftspeople and exploring African ancestry through his speculative artistic practices. His work, which blends fantasy instruments, hybrid knowledge systems, and mythological narratives, continues to evolve through exhibitions and research. In October 2023, Robinson presented The Imaginary in the Diaspora, an artist talk at G.A.S., where he discussed his process of remixing oracles, music, and myths into new spiritual and psychological frameworks. This recognition marks a significant milestone in his artistic journey, further solidifying his impact on contemporary visual arts.
Film Still, London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE new installation by Leo Robinson, DREAM-BRIDGE-OMNIGLYPH
Misheck Masamvu's Solo titled Mubato (The Handle) Debuts Work From His G.A.S. Residency
Earlier this year Misheck Masamvu debuted new works created during his G.A.S. Farm House residency in Mubato (The Handle), opening at Goodman Gallery, London from 6 February – 15 March 2025. Building on themes of psychological uncertainty and existential fragility first explored in Safety Pin (Goodman Gallery Cape Town, 2023), this exhibition deepens his investigation into the delicate balance between control and surrender. Rooted in the Shona concept of "mubato"—a term denoting a handle as both a tool and a point of interaction—Masamvu’s latest paintings use gestural abstraction and layered textures to explore personal and collective agency. His fragmented narratives and fluid forms evoke the tensions between stability and disruption, autonomy and shared responsibility. Created in dialogue with Nigeria’s cultural landscape, these works reflect Masamvu’s evolving artistic vocabulary, inviting viewers to navigate the complexities of the human condition.
Mischeck sharing his process with guests from G.A.S. Foundation, at his Open Studio in October 2024
Shabu Mwangi Shortlisted For The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2025
Kenyan multidisciplinary artist Shabu Mwangi, a September to November 2024 resident at G.A.S. Foundation, has been shortlisted for The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2025, sponsored by Schroders. The prize aims to elevate artists from Africa and the African diaspora while supporting arts education initiatives across the continent. Mwangi’s socially engaged practice—spanning painting, sculpture, and installation—explores themes of structural violence, migration, and socio-political inequalities. During his residency in Lagos, he developed new works in dialogue with local communities, culminating in a solo presentation at ART X Lagos 2024 focused on the dynamics of fortune and power.
Shabu Mwangi, Access ART X Prize: What May Come 2024 Exhibition. Image courtesy of ART X Lagos.