Black In Real Life is an exhibition by Nalo Solo, celebrating the local Black community through portraiture and interviews. Part of a longer-term project, the aim is to spotlight the inclusive and socially-conscious community found here in Brighton and its surrounding areas, as a vital force making Black history in real time.

Nalo Solo’s art practice primarily sits within the genre of social realism with an added focus on personal healing, social progress and community engagement. Black In Real Life is exemplary of the way in which Nalo merges these elements of practice with the desire to see more honest and accurate everyday portrayals of black people.

To achieve authentic representations, Nalo and the sitter worked collaboratively to create the portraits. This meant giving compositional decisions to the sitter such as choosing a pose, what to wear, the location, background, what symbols to include or not, and a choice of colour scheme. Nalo, then, leading on more practical decisions such as the size of canvas, chosen medium, and style of painting. Shared creative agency runs throughout this exhibition, and is inspired by the community it celebrates, that has supported and encouraged Nalo to keep creating in the face of health challenges.

Accompanying the portraits are interviews with the sitters, played through headphones, which uncover their personal stories. In this way, the exhibition disrupts notions of Blackness as a monolith and gives voice to authentic and humanising art that celebrates Black culture.

Nalo hopes to continue documenting Brighton’s vibrant Black community beyond the exhibition. By recording intersectional human stories that demonstrate the diversity of Blackness within the community, Nalo hopes to reaffirm how special the community we have here is, for us now, and for all future community members.

Curated by Susuana Amoah

About the artist

Nalo Solo is a visual artist, illustrator, graphic designer, writer and spoken word poet. Nalo’s work questions how to rebuild the self and surrounding community with authenticity and ethical practice whilst still stuck in regressive systems and negotiating the long term after effects of trauma on physical and mental health. Reaffirming the self whilst rejecting individualism. Nalo’s aim is to use creativity to repurpose negative experiences to uplift the marginalised and promote compassion.

Nalo studied BA Graphic Design and Illustration at Central Saint Martins, UAL, followed by MA Visual Arts, specialising in Illustration at Camberwell College, UAL.

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Opening times

Saturday 12 October, 1:30 – 3:30pm: Mural Workshop

Saturday 12 October, 6 – 8pm: Private View

Wednesday 16 October, 1:30 – 5:30pm

Thursday 17 October, 1:30 – 5:30pm

Friday 18 October, 1:30 – 5:30pm

Wednesday 23 October, 1:30 – 5:30pm

Thursday 24 October, 1:30 – 5:30pm

Friday 25 October, 1:30 – 5:30pm

This exhibition is part of ONCA’s Associate Artist Programme celebrating Black History Month.