The Missing Thread Exhibition

The Missing Thread Exhibition, Somerset House 21 September 2023 – 07 January 2024

"We were asked to participate in The Missing Thread exhibition held at Somerset House. I created a tryptich artwork in blue, red and yellow made in 2012 which was part of a silk screened print series. They acted as actual printing blocks from which corresponding charcoal drawings were made. Once dried these positives left a textured and poetic silhouette which placed together and conjoined are  transformed into celebrations of colour. They're like a crowd scene of outcasts. There's a strange solemnity to   them. It captures a point I'd been working towards of seeing the suit as sculptures very much in the footsteps of Beuys"  Bayode Oduwole

Spanning from the 1970s to the present day, The Missing Thread, curated by the Black Orientated Legacy Development Agency (BOLD), charts the shifting landscape of Black British culture and the unique contribution it has made to Britain’s rich fashion design history.   

Black creativity has had a profound influence on British fashion and continues to be referenced to great effect, often without acknowledgement. The exhibition seeks to redress this, celebrating the unique visions and impact of a generation of trailblazing Black creatives whose contributions have been misrepresented or excluded from the story of British fashion. 

Set against a backdrop of politics and culture, the show examines how Black style and creativity has evolved across the decades and in turn influenced the world of fashion through music, photography, art and design.  

Tryptich by Bayode Oduwole titled: Blue, Red, Yellow. Acrylic on canvas.