Looking In: Photographic Portraits by Maud Sulter and Chan Hyo-Bae

A new series of contemporary exhibitions at Ben Uri begins with the work of two artist photographers reflecting parallel concerns, who both employ similar visual strategies to powerful dramatic effect. Broadly, both bodies of work address themes of exclusion from mainstream European and, specifically, white British culture, history and society. Both artists create photographs that represent the sitter through costume, allowing them to inhabit an excluded space. The images challenge stereotypical views of gender and race and deliberately subvert Western artistic tradition through their deliberate use of traditional compositional and framing devices.