Donald Rodney's 'Visceral Canker' Retrospective at Whitechapel Gallery Explores Black Body and Medicalization
Right now, Whitechapel Gallery in London is showcasing a retrospective called 'Visceral Canker,' which explores artist Donald Rodney's impactful work. This exhibition first opened at Spike Island in 2024 and focuses on themes like fragmentation, medicalization, and the Black experience, drawing from Rodney's own struggle with sickle cell anaemia. Born in West Bromwich in the 1960s to Jamaican parents, he was part of the BLK Art Group and studied at what is now Nottingham Trent University. Key pieces include 'Visceral Canker' (1990), which critiques colonialism using medical imagery, and 'The House That Jack Built' (1987) with X-ray art. The display also features archival materials and works like 'Self-Portrait: Black Man Public Enemy' (1990). Rodney, who died at 36, left a powerful legacy challenging societal narratives.
Key facts
- Donald Rodney's retrospective 'Visceral Canker' is at Whitechapel Gallery in London after a 2024 debut at Spike Island.
- Rodney was born in West Bromwich in the early 1960s to Jamaican parents and studied at Trent Polytechnic.
- He lived with sickle cell anaemia, influencing his use of medical imagery like X-rays in works such as 'The House That Jack Built' (1987).
- Key works include 'Visceral Canker' (1990) with slave trade symbols and 'Autoicon' (2000), a digital interactive collaboration with Mike Phillips.
- The exhibition features archival notebooks and excludes 'My Mother, My Father, My Sister, My Brother' (1996-7) due to fragility.
- Rodney was part of the BLK Art Group, influenced by artists Keith Piper and Eddie Chambers.
- Works reference historical events like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Henrietta Lacks's HeLa cell line.
- The show includes 'Camouflage' (1997), exclusively at Whitechapel, and 'Pygmalion' (1997), a mechanized effigy of Michael Jackson.
Entities
Artists
- Donald Rodney
- Carolyn Lazard
- Keith Piper
- Eddie Chambers
- David Wojnarowicz
- Frida Kahlo
- Martine Syms
- Camille Henrot
- Zia Anger
- Mike Phillips
- Richard Birkett
- Tendai Mutambu
- Jackson Pollock
- Barbara Hepworth
- Gilbert & George
- Gilane Tawadros
- Robert Leckie
- Nicole Yip
- Anna Müller
Institutions
- Whitechapel Gallery
- Spike Island
- Trent Polytechnic
- Nottingham Trent University
- BLK Art Group
- Architectural Review
- Slade School of Art
- South London Gallery
- Plymouth city council
- Nottingham Contemporary
- Blk Art Group
- Donald Rodney plc
- Gasworks
- The Donald Rodney Estate
- The British Council Collection
- Aesthetica Magazine
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- West Bromwich
- Jamaica
- Barcelona
- Spain
- German South West Africa
- Namibia
- Nottingham
- Whitechapel Gallery
- Smethwick
- Bristol
- South London Gallery