Overstand (Postcolonial Sampler)

A project which led to a two-person exhibition featuring the work of Neil Kenlock and Jaykoe, curated by Christina Mitrentse and Jaykoe. Kenlock and Jaykoe created a dynamic series of collaborative works for the exhibition, which coincided with Black History Month. Jaykoe sampled and transposed a variety of images of life in Brixton before, during and after the 1981 riot – including original photographs taken by Neil Kenlock in the 1970s – to create a series of mixed media screen prints. The work forms part of Jaykoe’s research for his upcoming solo project, RADIX, which focuses on the UK riots in 2011. Kenlock was born in 1950 in Jamaica, moving to Brixton to join his parents in 1963. He went on to work as a staff photographer for one of the first black British newspapers, West Indian World. He spent his career documenting his local community, including the UK Black Panther movement. He later co-founded ROOT magazine in 1979, showcasing black British fashion, as well as Choice FM in 1990, London’s first legal radio station dedicated to black music. Kenlock’s work documents the history of civil rights struggles in London. His images of British Caribbean residents in Brixton in the late 1960s and ’70s formed part of the exhibition, echoing his inclusion in the Tate Britain show “Stan Firm Inna Inglan”. He also captured unique images of Jamaican singer Bob Marley at one of his last UK performances in January 1977, at London’s Rainbow Theatre, shown for the first time as original photographs and sampled to create new works by Jaykoe.