Biography

Charles Campbell is a Jamaican-born multidisciplinary artist, writer and curator, whose practice investigates the future imaginaries possible in the wake of colonization. His work has been exhibited widely, including at the Havana Biennial, the Brooklyn Museum, The Miami Perez Art Museum, the Santo Domingo Biennial, the Alice Yard in Port of Spain and Rideau Hall. He has written numerous publications in magazines, including Frieze Magazine, Rungh Magazine and ARC Magazine, a Caribbean arts journal. Recent exhibitions include Fragments of Epic Memory at the Art Gallery of Ontario, The Other Side of Now at the Perez Art Museum Miami and “as it was, as it should have been” at Wil Aballe Art Projects. Campbell holds an MA in Fine Arts from Goldsmith College, and a BFA from Concordia University. He currently lives and works in Victoria B.C.

Approach and works on display

Charles Campbell is a Jamaican-born multidisciplinary artist, writer and curator whose practice investigates the future imaginaries possible in the wake of colonization. Working with sculptural installation, sound and performance, Campbell’s work alludes to an alternate timeline where the knowledge and experience of post-apocalyptic cultures create the possibility of reconstruction and restoration.

Maroonscape 4: Accompong Now (2021)

Combining the form of an object of enslavement with lung anatomy, the installation celebrates Black breath and creates a space for community and empowerment.

The 17-foot tall “tree,” named after Accompong, a village populated by escaped slaves who famously fought for and won their freedom, replicates the forked shapes of a slave yoke while mimicking the morphology of our respiratory system. Created in part as a response to the killing of George Floyd, the installation transforms a tool of oppression into a homage to the fundamental process of life, the power of breath and the strength and resilience of black communities.

Works by the artist