KHALEB BROOKS

As stated by Brooks: ‘Black women, while making up the majority of congregations in Christian churches across the U.S., rarely serve as spiritual leaders. The women in the ministry are also entrepreneurs, founders, heads of households, breadwinners; and in the case of my mother: the pastor’s bodyguard’. Using this array of highly personal experiences, the exhibition will act as a testament to the positions of power held by black women within American church spaces. It aims to engage visitors in a conversation around the damaging nature of religion within black communities, including the stigmatisation of sexuality and the erasure of connections to African spiritual practices within them.

A new range of mixed media and oil paintings, installations and sound-based works explore the various elements of Brooks’ life–childhood familial experiences, gender identity and friendships amassed along the way. The never before seen body prints post-surgery will be shown alongside portraits of the artist’s former partner, and great-grandmother–who was a great influence on the artist’s recent residency at the Liverpool Slavery Museum.