hope river ©

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  1. Hope River, b. 1994, is a Black-British visual artist based in London. She works in the mediums of drawing, painting, and writing, addressing themes of identity and race. Her aesthetic blends stark silhouetted scenes, a hallucinatory colour palette, Afrosurrealism, and Black Horror, confronting racism and its ongoing impact on the Black psyche. River studied Fine Art at Leeds Arts University (HND, 2014), The HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (BA HONS, 2017).

  2. Awards

    Bundanon Artist in Residence. Bundanon Art Museum, Australia, 2024

    Solo exhibitions

    Black Enough. Solo show, Refinery ArtSpace, New Zealand, 2023

    Group exhibitions

    Zonta Ashburton Female Art Awards. Group show, Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum, New Zealand, 2024

    Art on Loop. Digital group show, The Holy Art Gallery, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, 2023

    Zonta Ashburton Female Art Awards. Group show, Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum, New Zealand, 2023

    4th Annual Black History Month Exhibition. Digital group show, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, United States of America, 2023

    Global Challenges: Hope and Local Action. FASS group show, The Open University, England, 2022 (third-prize winner)

    A Black Firefly Amidst a Violet Interlude. Degree group show, University of Dundee, Scotland, 2017

    House of the Black Sun. Erasmus+ group show, The HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, Netherlands, 2016

    What Didn’t You Do to Bury Me? Graduate group show, Leeds Arts University, England, 2014

    Ilford Photo Student Photographer of the Year. Group show, Ilford Photo, England, 2014

    Press

    Morbidly Beautiful, United States
    FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET. Artist Spotlight: Hope River, 2024

    Bundanon Art Museum, Australia
    FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET. Artists in Residence media release, 2024

    The Press: Christchurch and Canterbury news, New Zealand
    BLACK ENOUGH ACT II. 10 exhibitions to see in October, 2023

    Art Edit Magazine, Australia
    sis didn’t apologise once. Gallery, Issue #35, 2023