Marlene Smith's 'Ah, Sugar' exhibition explores domestic histories through fondant sculptures and photographs

Marlene Smith presents 'Ah, Sugar' at Cubitt in London from 22 August to 18 October 2024, with a subsequent showing at Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art from 2 November to 14 December 2024. The exhibition features 14 sculptures crafted from rolled fondant icing, each named after family members and bearing impressions of embroidered and crocheted objects inherited from the artist's mother. These irregularly shaped pieces display powdery residue, broken sections, and warped forms, presented on grey metallic tables of varying heights. Photographer Ajamu contributes eight black-and-white portraits of Smith printed on sugarcane paper, capturing close-ups of her body and hair to emphasize materiality. Smith's work connects sugar to histories of the slave trade, indentured servitude, and racial capitalism, while exploring the domestic sphere as both personal sanctuary and political microcosm. The exhibition synthesizes opposites: manual and automated processes, historical and contemporary references, presence and absence. Stuart Hall's theories about Caribbean migrant aspirations inform the context of domestic spaces. Previous works like 'Art History' (1987) and 'Good Housekeeping III' (1985/2023) reference black women's creative labor and police violence against Dorothy 'Cherry' Groce. The show invites consideration of how sensuous and symbolic elements combine in artistic transformation.