Overview

‘Dance, theatre, music, sculpture, painting, all of these different modes of art-making are encapsulated into my practice, which is why I chose film as a medium for making my work.’ — Isaac Julien Celebrated for his compelling lyrical films and video art installations, Isaac Julien is one of the leading artists working today. This landmark book reveals the scope of Julien’s pioneering practice of over forty years, from the early 1980s to the present day, showcasing works from early films to large-scale, multi-screen installations which investigate the movement of peoples across different continents, times and spaces. It includes some of his early projects as part of Sankofa Film and Video Collective (1983–92); his critically acclaimed ten-screen video installation Lessons of the Hour 2019, a portrait of the life and times of Frederick Douglass, the visionary African American orator, philosopher and self-liberated freedom-fighter; and Once Again … (Statues Never Die) 2022. The wide range of writers and collaborators who have contributed to this book highlight Julien's critical thinking and the way his work breaks down barriers between different artistic disciplines, drawing from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture by using the themes of desire, history and culture. Featuring strikingly beautiful reproductions of these extraordinarily powerful works, this publication enriches our understanding and appreciation of a remarkable artist. The Isaac Julien app allows readers to immerse themselves in the images of the films and installations by bringing to life the artist's work in his recent publications ‘What Freedom Is To Me’. Users are able to position their phone’s camera over a variety of specially chosen images that come to life, in movement and sound, highlighting the artist’s multifaceted practice that draws from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture by utilising the themes of desire, history and culture.

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9781849768726

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Isabella Maidment is Curator, Contemporary British Art, at Tate Britain. Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer. His debut novel, Open Water, won the Costa Book Award for First Novel in 2021. Maria Balshaw is Director of Tate. Previously, she was Director of the Whitworth, University of Manchester; Director of Manchester City Galleries; and Director of Culture for Manchester City Council. Maria is Chair of the National Museum Directors' Council and is a Trustee of the Factory International Board in Manchester. She is also a member of the Women Leaders in Museums Network and a member of the Bizot group of leading global museums. In 2015, she was awarded a CBE for services to the arts. Celeste-Marie Bernier is Professor of United States and Atlantic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Adam Finch is a British film editor, whose work spans drama, documentary and the arts. Jack Halberstam is Professor of Gender Studies and English at Columbia University. Nina Kellgren, BSC, is a BAFTA-winning cinematographer based in London. Nathan Ladd is Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at Tate Britain. Luigia Lonardelli is a curator at the Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo (MAXXI). Mark Nash is an independent curator, film historian and filmmaker with a specialisation in contemporary fine art moving image practices, avant-garde and world cinema. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Irit Rogoff is Professor of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet and essayist. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for literature. Bradford Young, ASC, is an American cinematographer. His best-known films include Selma, When They See Us, A Most Violent Year, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Arrival, which earned him a nomination for an Academy Award.

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