Edinburgh hosts first retrospective of African artist who calls the city home

The first retrospective of an artist whose works communicate “the most complex subjects with unwavering compassion” opens at an Edinburgh art gallery on Saturday.

For more than four decades, Tanzania-born artist Everlyn Nicodemus has been producing drawings, collages, paintings and textiles engaging with themes including the oppression of women, the impact of racism and her own personal trauma and recovery.

Her works, which are described as “joyful, defiant and searingly honest”, are characterised by their bold use of colour, form, light and shade, and as invitations to viewers to explore their own understanding of identity, belonging and faith.

For the first time, the Modern One gallery in Edinburgh is staging a retrospective that brings together more than 80 works from across Nicodemus’ career, along with a series of new artworks created especially for the exhibition.

For Nicodemus, who was born in Marangu, Kilimanjaro, in 1954 and who has lived in Edinburgh for the past 15 years, “This exhibition feels like the most important moment in my career, spanning more than 40 years of my work.”

She continued: “It’s especially meaningful to me that it’s happening here in Edinburgh, a place that truly feels like my home.

“Having lived as a nomad all my life, this is the first place where I’ve been able to live and create in one space that is both my home and my studio.

“It’s a rare and unique experience for any artist, and especially for a Black African woman artist, to witness a retrospective of their own, and of this scale, so I feel incredibly lucky.

“This exhibition is a journey through my whole artistic life, and I hope it resonates deeply with those who experience it.”

The retrospective, which will occupy the entire ground floor of the gallery, charts the entirety of Nicodemus’ career, beginning with her very first painting, After The Birth (1980).

At over two metres in width, this oil on bark cloth painting depicts a large-scale image of a mother and child.

The exhibition also debuts her new work, Lazarus Jacaranda (2022-24), a series of paintings recalling the colour palettes and subjects of her earlier works, and which explore themes of cyclical life, and Nicodemus’s belief that “art is resurrection”.

Anne Lyden, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “It is a great privilege to host the first ever retrospective of visionary artist Everlyn Nicodemus at Modern One this year.

“Everlyn’s exceptional artwork harnesses her incredible ability to communicate the most complex subjects with unwavering compassion.

“Her work serves to empower and inspire, but also sensitively demonstrates the therapeutic and healing powers of creativity.

“This exhibition also marks Everlyn’s return to painting after a 25-year break with the unveiling of a new series of work which we are excited to share with our audiences for the first time.

“We are thrilled to bring this exhibition to the people of Scotland and celebrate Everlyn’s remarkable career in the city she calls home.”

Visitors will be able to experience a free audio tour led by Nicodemus herself, which will guide them around the exhibition as she highlights selected works and delves deeper into her inspirations, experiences and creative process.

For senior curator Stephanie Straine the exhibition is an opportunity for visitors to encounter the artist’s “astonishing creative practice”.

“We’re so excited that Everlyn’s exhibition has opened here in Edinburgh, allowing visitors to encounter Everlyn’s astonishing creative practice of many decades,” she said.

“I feel truly honoured to have had the opportunity to work closely with the artist over the past three years to develop her exhibition and its accompanying publication.

“It’s been a privilege to be a part of this incredibly rewarding collaborative process that has time and again emphasised Everlyn’s rigorous scholarship, commitment to and celebration of art making, and deeply empathetic perspective on the complexities of our shared humanity.”

To mark the opening of the exhibition, National Galleries of Scotland has acquired two of Nicodemus’ earlier works.

The Wedding 45 (1991) is part of a series she created during her recovery from a mental health breakdown, while Eva (1981) declares the artist’s support for global reproductive rights.

Everlyn Nicodemus opens at Modern One in Edinburgh on October 19 2024, and runs until May 25 2025. Admission is free.