SIR ISAAC JULIEN
Sir Isaac Julien was granted a knighthood as part of the Queen’s Honours List during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace last June and took place in November by King Charles III. The iconoclast filmmaker and installation artist reinterprets film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture to construct powerful visual narratives through multi-screen film installations. Black and gay identity are recurring themes throughout Julien’s multidisciplinary practice. His seminal docu-drama, Looking for Langston (1989), explores the life of literary icon Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. His debut feature, Young Soul Rebels (1991), won the Semaine de la Critique prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Once Again… (Statues Never Die) is Julien’s immersive five-screen installation that explores the relationship between Dr. Albert C. Barnes, an early U.S. collector and exhibitor of African material culture, and the cultural critic Alain Locke, also known as the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance.” A distinguished professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, the London born artist’s work across forty years will be presented for the first time in the U.K. at Tate Britain next year. —T.T.