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- EXHIBITIONS | Elsa James
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS SOLO EXHIBITION Elsa James: It Should Not Be Forgotten Firstsite Colchester, UK 29 March - 6 July 2025 SOLO EXHIBITION Othered in a region that has been historically Othered Focal Point Gallery Southend-on-Sea, UK 26 June - 18 September 2022 SOLO EXHIBITION Elsa James: Black Girl Essex Firstsite Colchester, UK 22 June - 22 September 2019 GROUP EXHIBITION How to be in the Future? Chisenhale Art Place London, UK 3 October - 12 October 2025 GROUP EXHIBITION transfeminisms Chapter III: Fragile Archives Mimosa House London, UK 5 July – 17 August 2024 GROUP EXHIBITION Intension (the concept ‘dog’ encapsulates its ‘dogness’) Copperfield London, UK 1 June - 28 September 2024 GROUP EXHIBITION Liberation in Four Movements Art Museum at the University of Toronto Toronto, Canada 1 May - 27 July 2024 GROUP EXHIBITION Ac ts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood Hayward Gallery Touring UK & Ireland 9 March 2024 - 11 January 2026 GROUP EXHIBITION Rites of Passage Gagosian London, UK 16 March - 29 April 2023 Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Editions -Work No. 27 | Elsa James
Limited edition screenprints available for purchase, documenting anonymised racist microaggressions shared by four Black men reflecting on everyday experiences of growing up in or living in Essex, England. The works record lived encounters of racial bias and subtle violence, translating spoken testimony into visual form as a way of archiving, exposing, and critically reflecting on contemporary Black British life and its social realities. AVAILABLE EDITIONS Work No. 27: Hair Texture, 2022 Silkscreen print on Plike Black 330gsm 68 x 68 cm (unframed) Edition 1 of 1 plus 1 Exhibition copy Signed, dated, and numbered on the back £1500 + shipping Documentation of racist microaggressions, shared anonymously by four Black men reflecting on their everyday experiences of growing up in, or currently living in, Essex, England. Part of The Black Interior works here Credits: Typographics: Proof; Screenprint: K2Screens; Photographed by Anna Lukula ENQUIRE HERE Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Projects | Elsa James
Explore Projects by Elsa James - Solo Artist showcasing diverse projects. Discover the creativity and passion in Projects by Elsa James today. WORKS - projects Eighty-Five Years, 2024 We Stand With You, 2021 The Black Essex Flag, 2019 Love in Social Practice, 2019 <<< Sound Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Redemptive Blue | Elsa James
WORKS - SOUND - Redemptive Blue, 2022 Redemptive Blue, 2022 Audio 10:36 minutes Redemptive Blue is a contemplative sound work accompanying the moving-image work Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex . Moving through emotional and historical registers, the piece weaves layered tonal shifts and subtle sonic textures, drawing on the musical traditions of Soul, Gospel, and Classical Opera. Redemptive Blue invites listeners into an immersive encounter shaped by lyrics drawn from the lived experiences of African asylum seekers and refugees living in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Serving as both atmosphere and reflection, the piece creates space for compassion, remembrance, and the possibility of change. Listen on Soundcloud here Commissioned by Focal Point Gallery as part of the solo exhibition Othered in a region that has been historically Othered, 2022. Funded by Arts Council England, Focal Point Gallery and Southend-on-Sea City Council. Credits: Written and composed by Paul Gladstone-Reid MBE with Elsa James from focus groups she held with asylum seekers and refugees in Southend-on-Sea . Film stills: Andy Delaney <<< The Black Interior Audio Edit Jab Jab Essex >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Editions-Work No. 25 | Elsa James
AVAILABLE EDITIONS Work No. 25: Living Here, 2022 Silkscreen print on Plike Black 330gsm 68 x 68 cm (unframed) Edition 1 of 1 plus 1 Exhibition copy Signed, dated, and numbered on the back £1500 + shipping Documentation of racist microaggressions, shared anonymously by four Black men reflecting on their everyday experiences of growing up in, or currently living in, Essex, England. Part of The Black Interior works here Credits: Typographics: Proof; Screenprint: K2Screens; Photographed by Anna Lukula ENQUIRE HERE Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Moving images | Elsa James
Explore the Moving Image works of artist Elsa James WORKS - MOVING IMAGES Living in the Wake of the Lust for Sugar, 2023 Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex, 2022 A Jab Jab Awakening Towards A New Essex, 2022 An Afro Future Narrative for Essex, 2022 Black Girl Essex, Here We Come, Look We Here, 2019 Forgotten Black Essex, Hester and Hester Woodley, 2018 Forgotten Black Essex, Princess Dinubolu, 2018 Goat Curry and Rap, 2010 150 Lies Myths and Truths, 2006 Durational performances >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- SHOP | Elsa James
AVAILABLE EDITIONS Work No. 25: Living Here , 2022 Work No. 4: Hey, We're Over Here! 2021 We Stand With You , 2021 Work No. 7: Policy Note to Essex , 2021 Work No. 27: Hair Texture , 2022 Work No. 5: Untitled, 2021 Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Digital art | Elsa James
WORKS - DIGITAL ART The Mary Prince Narratives Part I, 2023 The Blackness Series, 2016- date <<< Screenprints Sound >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex | Elsa James
Film by Elsa James connecting the persecution of Essex women accused of witchcraft during the 17th-century English Civil War with contemporary experiences of displacement and exclusion for African asylum seekers and refugees living in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. WORKS - MOVING IMAGES - Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex, 2022 Contemporary Echoes of the Subjugation of the Women of Essex Chapter one of the three-part film, Othered in a region that has been historically Othered, 2022 4K digital video, stereo sound 11:36 minutes (2:24-minute excerpt below) Edition of 3 and 1 AP Filmed in Mistley, Essex. Chapter one opens in the woodlands surrounding Old Knobbley, an 800-year-old oak tree in Mistley, Essex. According to local folklore, the tree served as a sanctuary for women persecuted as witches during the 17th-century English Civil War. The chapter draws a line across temporal registers, juxtaposing these histories of persecution with the contemporary experiences of African asylum seekers and refugees living in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Their testimonies are carried through the film’s sonic register, binding past and present through a shared grammar of displacement, vulnerability, and survival. Explore the accompanying audio here . Commissioned by Focal Point Gallery as part of the solo exhibition titled Othered in a region that has been historically Othered , 2022. Funded by Arts Council England, Focal Point Gallery and Southend-on-Sea City Council. With support from Art Exchange at the University of Essex. Chapter one credits: Conceived, written and produced by Elsa James from focus groups she held with anonymous members of CAST, a Southend-based African asylum seekers and refugees charity. Film performance: Elsa James; Filmed, directed and edited: Andy Delaney; Colourist: Adrian Seery; Camera Assistant: Graham Tobias; Movement director: Lea Orož; Titles: Rich With; Production Assistance: Sue Withers; Music composer: Paul Gladstone-Reid MBE; Essex Researcher: Holly Firmin; Essex Witch Trials Consultant: Syd Moore; Costume Designer: Symone Williams; Costume Designer’s Assistant: Allyson Williams MBE; Make-up: Jamilat Charles. All film stills: Andy Delaney. Screening history: 2023 - G.A.S. Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria 2022 - Focal Point Gallery, Southend, Essex, UK <<< Living in the Wake of the Lust for Sugar A Jab Jab Awakening Towards A New Essex >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Durational performances | Elsa James
Explore Elsa James' durational performances at Tate Britain and the National Maritime Museum WORKS - DURATIONAL PERFORMANCES Gestures Towards Telling A New Narrative, 2024 Free to Flourish, 2023 <<< Moving images Photo-based performance >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- PUBLICATIONS | Elsa James
BIO CV PUBLICATIONS PRESS MEDIA Menu Close Artist's Writings and Essays Liberation in Four Movements, essay by Ingrid Jones, published by the Art Museum, University of Toronto Art Centre, 2024 Words for Essex, written by Elsa James for Southend’s Twilight Worlds, edited by Elliot Gibbons, published by The Old Waterworks, 2022 Intersections in the Art of Elsa James , extended essay by Jon Blackwood , published by Firstsite and Metal, 2021 Coming Out as a Black Essex Girl, written by Elsa James for Trawler X EGLF, edited by Ciara Phipps, published by Trawler, 2020 New ways of seeing, making and telling, written by Elsa James for the Social Art Summit Paper, published by a-n The Artists Information Company, 2018 Featured In How to Enter the Art World...: AFTER a late start / a first career / raising children / caring for parents / recovering from illness / a crisis of confidence / leaving it in disgust, by (Author) Hettie Judah, published by Hoxton Mini Press, 2026 Matrescence and Performance: Becoming/Unbecoming , by (Author) Laura Biscel, published by Intellect Books, 2026 Settlers: Journeys Through the Food, Faith and Culture of Black African London , by (Author) Jimi Famurewa, published by Bloomsbury Publishing , 2022 Essex Girls: For Profane and Opinionated Women Everywhere , by (Author) Sarah Perry, published by Serpent's Tail, 2020 Radical ESSEX by (Author of text) Tim Burrows, published by Focal Point Gallery, 2018 Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.
- Ode to David Lammy | Elsa James
Large-scale Neon text installation referencing David Lammy’s Windrush speech, exploring African diaspora solidarity and the phrase “I Am Here Because You Were There.” WORKS - NEONS - Ode to David Lammy, 2022 Ode to David Lammy, 2022 Neon and black paint Letter height: 30 cm, install dimensions: 967.2 cm Edition of 2 I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU WERE THERE—a shared declaration across the African diaspora. The phrase originates from an impassioned speech by David Lammy in 2018, in response to the Windrush scandal, in which British subjects—many of whom had arrived from Caribbean nations decades earlier—were wrongly detained, denied their rights, or threatened with deportation. Commissioned by Focal Point Gallery as part of the solo exhibition titled Othered in a region that has been historically Othered , 2022. Funded by Arts Council England, Focal Point Gallery and Southend-on-Sea City Council. With support from Art Exchange at the University of Essex. Credits: Fabricator: Neon Circus; Photo 1. Anna Lukula, Photo 2. Lucy Dawkins. Courtesy Gagosian Exhibition history: 2025 - Firstsite, Colchester, UK 2023 - Bernie Grant Art Centre, London, UK 2023 - Gagosian, London, UK 2022 - Focal Point Gallery, Southend, UK <<< After Maya Osun-Osogbo, Windrush and Empire >>> Elsa James © 2026. All Rights Reserved.











