Bhajan Hunjan: speaking through materials

We're delighted to present a solo exhibition from artist and long-time studio holder Bhajan Hunjan. Bhajan Hunjan: speaking through materials will, for the first time, bring together works from Hunjan's rich and various career to date, spanning over 40 years of practice. Hunjan's ambitious and dextrous use of materials has tied together her practice both in and outside of the gallery. The exhibition will take us on a journey to explore this dexterity, bringing together print, painting, sculpture and collage from across Hunjan's career. The show will also bring to light Hunjan's innovation with materials within public art – such as silk-screen printed glass, laser-cut acrylic and metal, and stonework – together with documentation of the closely collaborative working process behind her public artworks. Guided by a unique visual language of line, rhythmic pattern and symbols, Hunjan's work pushes the boundaries of meaning as well as materials, often speaking powerfully for women and diaspora communities. Drawing on her Kenyan upbringing, Sikh heritage and experience of moving to the UK in the 1970s, Hunjan's work plays an important role in the history of women artists. She participated in the Black British Art Movement, exhibiting and curating alongside contemporaries, and has been included in numerous exhibitions and publications exploring the movement since, most recently in Tate Britain's 2023 touring exhibition Women In Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990. An accompanying publication, supported by the Paul Mellon Centre, will illustrate all exhibition works, for the first time celebrating Hunjan's extensive work collectively in print. Newly commissioned essays will tell the stories behind her works, as well as commenting on the important contribution she has made to British art. A public programme will also accompany the exhibition, providing opportunities for all ages to further engage with Hunjan's work.