Barbara Walker

Our autumn 2024 programme leads with the first-ever survey exhibition and a new commission by Turner Prize nominee Barbara Walker.

Growing up in Birmingham, Walker’s personal experiences with issues of class, race, power and belonging have shaped her practice. She makes work that ranges from small, embossed works on paper, to large-scale wall drawings. Intensely observed and empathetic, her work gives a powerful presence to Black communities and culture in art history.

Centred on concepts of visibility and erasure, the exhibition will bring together paintings, prints and drawings from across Walker’s career, including her most recent Turner Prize nominated series Burden of Proof (2022-23), co-commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation with support from the Whitworth. The exhibition will include a commission focusing on the Windrush generation and in response to the Whitworth’s collection of historic drawings and wallpaper.

4 October 2024 – 26 January 2025

#BarbaraWalker

Image: Barbara Walker working on her wall-drawing Vanishing Point at Cristea Roberts Gallery, detail, 2022. Courtesy, Cristea Roberts Gallery. Photo: Helen Waters