Souls Grown Deep is a unique showcase of Artworks from the Art scene in the American South, on display for the first time in the UK. For generations, Black artists from the American South have created an Artist’s movement. Working in away from established artistic practices, they have crafted masterpieces that encapsulate America’s painful past – institutionalised racism, enslavement, and cruel segregationist policies.

 

Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers brings together sculpture, paintings, reliefs, drawings, and quilts. Made from the materials available locally – like clay, driftwood, roots, soil, recycled and cast-off objects – 64 artworks range from the mid 20th century to today.

 

With the juxtaposition of the white-box gallery setting, the artworks were given generous spacing - allowing each one to exist as a separate entity. Each piece was treated with its own unique lighting treatment to appropriately capture their beauty and soul. Using the existing level tracks on the high level ceiling, spotlights were arranged and focused sensitively to light the works, and were dimmed to meet conservation levels, where appropriate.

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Photos courtesy of the Royal Academy