Walking into Hollybush Gardens in Clerkenwell, the first thing that catches the eye is a group of four works by Lubaina Himid, presented as part of the Stages programme. This exhibition features three solo presentations by Andrea Büttner, Knut Henrik Henriksen, and Lubaina Himid, running in quick succession between 2nd July and 9th August 2025. It focuses on artworks that deal with social structures or poetic ideas that are often hard to express through language.
Lubaina Himid’s works are shown on the ground floor, directly facing the entrance. Each of the four paintings is made of two parts: text on the left and an image on the right. At first glance, the colours and composition are striking—simple but powerful. The whole space feels quiet and controlled, and the paintings almost seem like doors, each opening into an unfinished story or imagined world.
Looking more closely, the left-hand texts read like personal diaries, telling a story of migration or escape. The text appears in both light and dark shades, like a shadow or an echo.
One passage reads: “The sharp undergrowth scratched and tore at our limbs as we trekked mile after mile… the beginning of a new life seemed possible as we reached the mountains.”
The words evoke memories that feel suppressed or collective, while the right-hand images are silent: clocks, chairs, windows, tables, the sea on the horizon, and empty rooms. No people appear, but the scenes feel full of stories. It is perhaps this absence that allows viewers to project their own feelings into the work. The blank spaces seem to invite us to awaken what lies deep inside. In this stillness, we begin to hear our own voices—like echoes from the subconscious.
Lubaina Himid is a significant figure in British art. Since the 1980s, she has worked to bring overlooked histories into view, especially those of women, Black people, and migrants. As a key figure in the UK’s Black Arts Movement in the 1990s, she often explores how identity and memory are shaped by power and visibility. The Plan B series was made between 1998 and 1999 during her residency at Tate St Ives. These works reflect both personal reflection and a larger symbolic gesture—perhaps toward plans that failed, histories that never happened, or ideas that remained unseen.
The title Plan B itself is full of tension. It suggests something secondary, an alternative route, or a backup plan. In her work, it can be read as a political position—reimagining space and memory for those often excluded from official narratives.
As part of the Stages series, this presentation becomes more than a simple display of paintings. The format—short, focused solo exhibitions—offers each artist a kind of stage. Her works feel especially suited to this: they are quiet, but never passive. They ask us to listen, to enter, and to reflect. The exhibition will reopen by appointment from 11th August, with a closing event on Wednesday 3rd September at 6:30pm featuring a live response by writer and performer Andra Simons.
In front of Lubaina Himid’s work, we are not just viewers—we are participants. The combination of text and image does not simply tell a story; it opens up a space where many voices can exist. Reading her Plan B, we begin to imagine our own.
