In a powerful exhibition at London's Somerset House, artist Es Devlin tackles themes of bias and otherness through portraits of 50 strangers who sought refuge in London. Face to Face: 50 Encounters with Strangers is a follow up to Devlin's powerful October 2024 installation Congregation inside the St Mary Le Strand church, where the portraits were enhanced by projection mapping and music.
The Somerset House exhibition begins with a recreation of Devlin's south London studio with 50 chalk and charcoal portraits in progress. This is a nod to the four months she spent welcoming these strangers, whom she calls co-authors, for portrait sessions without knowing anything other than their name. The first 45 minutes of the session were silent, and it was only during a break that the artist learned about the story and circumstances of each person. When the portrait session continued, Devlin listened to podcasts describing the conflict the sitter escaped from.
“For the first 45 minutes I was drawing not only a portrait of a stranger, but also a portrait of the assumptions I inevitably overlay: I was drawing my own perspectives and biases,” she shares. “I was trying to draw in order to better perceive and understand the structures of separation, the architectures of otherness that I suspect may stand between us and the porosity to others that we are capable of feeling when these structures soften.”
The second room is a nod to Congregation, with tiered portraits set up in a similar fashion. In the portraits, drawn on cardboard, the sitters hold empty boxes that are filled with light projected objects. These objects, also painted by Devlin, are items that hold significance for each person. The film sequence, which was created in close collaboration with filmmaker Ruth Hogben, Treatment Studio, and choreographer Botis Seva, also features dancer Joshua Shanny-Wynter. The installation is completed by a soundscape by Polyphonia, that includes poetry by the Kinshasa born poet J.J. Bola—who is included in the portraits—as well as the voices of many of the other co-authors.
The last room features new work, including a painted plasma TV and projection-mapped layers of painted glass over chalk and charcoal portraits. All told, Devlin plunges visitors into a world where we are asked to contemplate our feelings about asylum seekers while shining a light on the humanity of those who have been forced to leave their homelands.
The project, created in collaboration with UK for UNHCR, and curated by Ekow Eshun, was sparked by the 2022 comments of then UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Braverman described the situation of asylum seekers on the Kent coast as an “invasion.” This word struck a chord with Devlin, who reached out to the UK Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for more information on the issue. Surprised by the data she discovered, including the fact that 73% of global refugees come from just five countries—Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, and South Sudan—she set out on a journey to see what structures were in place that divide rather than unite us.
“What was it like to arrive in a city so hostile to your presence? To remain cast as an outsider irrespective of your desire to find belonging?” These are questions posed by Eshun in his essay about the project. “How do we break free of this dispiriting pattern of dehumanization?”
For his part, Eshun sees Devlin's portraits and the collaborative spirit in which they were made as a step in the right direction. “In the back and forth between artist and co-author, the act of portrait-making became an exercise in mutual giving and mutual openness. Listening and reciprocity. The pictures that result from that process are indicative of a shift in perspective, from looking at a person with an external, objectifying gaze, to looking with them and sharing their point of view.”
Face to Face: 50 Encounters with Strangers remains on view at London's Somerset House until January 15, 2025. To learn more about Devlin's co-authors, read their stories on the UNHCR's dedicated Congregation website.
In a powerful exhibition, artist Es Devlin tackles themes of bias and otherness through portraits of 50 strangers who sought refuge in London.
Left to right: Portraits of Ornella, Oleksandra, and Joeles
Portrait of Ornella, detail
Portrait of Oleksandra, detail
It begins with a recreation of Devlin's south London studio with 50 chalk and charcoal portraits in progress.
This is a nod to the four months she spent welcoming these strangers, whom she calls co-authors, for portrait sessions without knowing anything other than their name.
Photo: Amer Ghazzal/Alamy Live News
The first 45 minutes of the session were silent, and it only during a break that the artist learned about the story and circumstances of each person.
The second room is a reimagining of her installation Congregation inside the St Mary Le Strand church, where the portraits are enhanced by projection mapping and music.
“In the back and forth between artist and co-author, the act of portrait-making became an exercise in mutual giving and mutual openness. Listening and reciprocity,” shares curator Ekow Eshun.
Portrait of Joel, detail
Portrait of Nizar, detail
Portrait of Dennis, detail
The final room contains new work, including images with film projections that include dancer Joshua Shanny-Wynter.
Photo: Charlie J. Ercilla
Portrait of Dennis
Portrait of Nizar
The project, which was created in collaboration with UK for UNHCR, is on view at Somerset House until January 15, 2025.
Portrait of Ornella
Exhibition Information:
Es Devlin
Face to Face: 50 Encounters with Strangers
November 23, 2024 – January 15, 2025
Somerset House in London, England
Strand, London WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom
Es Devlin: Website | Instagram
All images by Daniel Devlin except where noted. My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Es Devlin.
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