Exhibition Launch Party: Olukemi Lijadu and Phillip Lai

You are invited to celebrate the opening of our winter exhibitions, and . Discover the most significant presentations of both artists’ works to date, with a new major film commission from Lijadu highlighting the drum as a structural and spiritual backbone of communal gathering, and a body of sculptural commissions from Lai that continue the artist’s exploration of the material world around us. On the occasion of this launch party, Lijadu will be DJing in our onsite café-bar Emmeline, an extension of her research into the legacy of West African music on electronic music, spanning sites crucial to Black culture: from Chicago music festivals to the beaches of Lagos, with nods to Bristol’s African-Caribbean heritage.

Custom cocktails, local beers, ciders, wines, and alcohol-free options will be available throughout the evening.

Olukemi Lijadu
Olukemi Lijadu is a multi-disciplinary artist and DJ, with a focus on moving image and sound. She was recently a recipient of London’s ICA Image Behaviour grant where she was commissioned to create and debut her most recent film-performance Guardian Angel.

In 2018, she graduated from Stanford as a masters student in Philosophy where she focused on African philosophical systems. Her academic background grounds her research-based approach to her artistic practice. Her work explores questions around music of the diaspora, heritage and the complexity of feeling.

Phillip Lai
Phillip Lai was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1969 and moved to London in 1979, where he continues to live and work. In 1997, he presented his first solo exhibition at The Showroom, London. His work has been the subject of subsequent solo exhibitions at Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong (2023); Modern Art, London (2021); Galleria Franco Noero, Turin (2019); Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong (2018); Camden Art Centre, London (2014); and Transmission Gallery, Glasgow (2009).

In 2018, he was shortlisted for the Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, and from 2017–19 was awarded the Sculpture Fellowship at the Kenneth Armitage Foundation, London. His works are held in collections including the Arts Council Collection, London; M+, Hong Kong; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing; and Tate, London.

PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

Olukemi Lijadu: Feedback is generously supported by The Elephant Trust.

Phillip Lai: Solo Exhibition is generously supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and Modern Art.

IMAGE CREDITS

1. Photography by Lisa Whiting (2025). Image courtesy Spike Island
2. Olukemi Lijadu, 'Feedback' work in progress (2025). Image courtesy the artist
3. Phillip Lai, 'Drunken Sailor' detail (2021). Image courtesy the artist and Modern Art. Photograph by Ben Westoby / Fine Art Documentation

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