Exhibitions and commissions 2024–25

Olu Ogunnaike
Fix Your Face
February 2—May 5, 2024
A site-specific commission by Olu Ogunnaike that combines handmade OSB, charcoal screen prints and silt from the river Avon with charred objects recovered from the recent fire at Underfall Yard, a historic boatyard near Spike Island.

Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and the Foundation Foundation.

Young In Hong
Five Acts
February 2—May 5, 2024
A new commission by Spike Island studio holder Young In Hong. The exhibition includes a panoramic tapestry, fibre toys and a ritual performance that consider animal behaviour and the history of women’s labour in Korea.

Part of the West of England Visual Arts Alliance programme, supported by Arts Council England, with additional support from the Korea Artist Prize Promotion Fund.

Donald Rodney
Visceral Canker
May 24—September 8, 2024
A major retrospective of British artist Donald Rodney (1961–98). Bringing together all that survives of his work across painting, drawing, installation, sculpture and digital media with rare archive materials, the exhibition highlights Rodney’s significance to the recent history of British art. 

Part of the West of England Visual Arts Alliance programme, supported by Arts Council England. Presented in partnership with Nottingham Contemporary and Whitechapel Gallery, where it will tour during 2024-25.

Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane
Grey Unpleasant Land
September 28, 2024—January 19, 2025 
A two-person exhibition blending the works and worlds of Sophia Al-Maria and Lydia Ourahmane, both of whom are immigrants to the UK. Existing works and a collaborative commission explore the idea of the “right to remain” in the context of the UK’s still semi-feudal laws around property and ownership.

Upcoming in 2025

Danielle Dean
February 8—May 12, 2025
A moving-image commission by Danielle Dean inspired by Quartermass II, a horror B-movie from 1957, set in her hometown of Hemel Hempstead, where an oozing mass of black fluid takes over the town and infiltrates the workers’ minds. 

Commissioned by Spike Island and Mercer Union, Toronto, and produced by LONO studio, with additional support from 47 Canal, New York.

Dan Guthrie
Rotting Figure
February 8—May 12, 2025
A moving-image commission by Dan Guthrie exploring the potential for the “radical un-conservation” of the Blackboy Clock; an item of contested heritage in Guthrie’s hometown of Stroud.

Commissioned and produced by Spike Island and Chisenhale Gallery, London.

Donald Locke
May 31—September 8, 2025
The first major survey of Guyanese artist Donald Locke (1930-2010). Born and raised in Guyana, Locke moved to the UK in 1954 as part of the Windrush Generation. The exhibition includes early ceramics inspired by natural forms and the human body, and larger scale paintings and sculptures exploring issues around history and identity.

Supported by the Ampersand Foundation and presented in partnership with Camden Arts Centre, London and Ikon, Birmingham, where it will tour during 2025–26.

Spike Island is a registered charity and part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. All our exhibitions and the majority of our events are free. Our current exhibition Ofelia Rodríguez: Talking in Dreams continues until January 14, 2023.