Ashley Holmes

Cry Then Win Then Lose Reaction
Solo exhibition and performance
Two Queens, Leicester (2018)

’Two Queens is delighted to announce the presentation of a newly-commissioned project by Ashley Holmes: Cry Then Win Then Lose Reaction. The project is centered around the presentation of a multi-channel video installation informed by Holmes’ current research that attempts to dissect the legacy of collective activity within african diasporic communities. The work looks at new platforms of archive and documentation, focussing on the dynamics of performance in public spaces. Cry Then Win Then Lose Reaction is a close examination of a fractious dialogue and relationship between transatlantic Rap cultures and the secondary media of the internet reaction video. Holmes is interested in the varying roles assumed within these platforms and the unique bridge they provide between conversations around transatlantic understandings of Blackness.

Performance consisting of readings from writing made over recent months further exploring Holmes’ interest in archiving and documentation of (non) performance. The work is soundtracked by Holmes using a single turntable to play music from his personal record collection spanning multiple genres and reflecting an interest in soundsystem cultures to map a timeline of the lineage and archival recordings of music of Black origin.’

Photos by Jules Lister and Peter Martin



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