Curated by Amira Gad

The first London solo show of influential African American cinematographer, experimental filmmaker, and artist Arthur Jafa opens at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery and elsewhere throughout the city in June. Though Jafa is legendary as the cinematographer behind the stunning visuals of Julie Dash’s 1991 film Daughters of the Dust, he is also a formidable artist in his own right, currently working at the height of his talents. His recent output explores the contours of and potential for African American politics and creative expression in an audiovisual field saturated with sounds and images of “Blackness.” Often taking jazz and other Black musical forms as inspiration, Jafa’s work with the moving image is deeply creative and philosophical, attuned to patterns in Black expressive culture over time and to the senses of loss and plenitude they evince.

— Kara Keeling