Le Rodeur: The Pulley

Lubaina Himid (1954 - )

Acrylic on canvas

2017

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  • About the work
    The boundary between inside and outside is blurred in Le Rodeur: The Pulley – suggesting a stage set or a dream. Two women wearing contemporary clothes occupy a minimalist environment with modernist furniture and a blue pool set into the floor. A pulley and rope system is supported on slim poles above their heads. A piece of dark fabric decorated with small circular forms flutters like clothing on a washing line. Set against a view of a raging sea, the sight of the pulley deftly suggests we are looking simultaneously at a room and the deck of a ship. Adding to the ambiguity, a strip of diamond shapes runs diagonally across the yellow floor, and partly over the pool. Abstract patterns commonly feature in Lubaina Himid’s work – a childhood influence she credits to her mother, a textile designer, who frequently took her to see designs at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
    This painting reflects ideas that are personal to the artist, as well as wider social and historical themes. Himid’s works often explore the complexity of emotional relationships between women, depicting them either alone or together. In this painting, there is an unexplained but palpable tension between the two figures. They turn away from each other, yet their feet almost touch, suggesting a shared intimate connection.

    Le Rodeur is a series of paintings that Himid started in 2016, each of which depict figures in a marine setting. Le Rodeur (‘The Spear’) was a 19th century French slave ship that, in April 1819, departed the Bight of Biafra for Guadeloupe. On board were 162 African slaves and a crew of 22. Many were struck by a debilitating disease that caused blindness during the journey. Deeming the slaves commercially ‘worthless’, the captain ordered that 36 were thrown overboard. In time, everyone on board became blind, except for one man, who eventually sought help from another ship. This story brings another rich layer to Himid’s painting. A pulley’s function aids the transfer of power – here its presence suggests that sudden shift of power between the European colonial crew and the African slaves, where both succumbed to the same fate, regardless of position or privilege.
  • About the artist
    Born in Zanzibar, Lubaina Himid moved to the UK as a child, where she studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art and Cultural History at the Royal College of Art, London. For over 40 years, she has actively encouraged the promotion and support of the Black Arts Movement, particularly work by women. In the 1980s and ‘90s, she curated a number of important group exhibitions including ‘The Thin Black Line' (ICA, 1985) and 'Unrecorded Truths' (Elbow Room, 1986). Himid currently lives and works in Preston and is Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire. She is the winner of the 2017 Turner Prize. A major monographic exhibition of her work was held at Tate Modern (2021-2022).Other solo exhibitions of her work have been held at Sharjah Art Foundation UAE (2023); Muse?e cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne (2022); Tate Britain, London; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands ; and New Museum, New York (all 2019). Her work is held in various key museum collections around the world.
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    Materials & Techniques
    acrylic (paint), canvas, acrylic painting
  • Details
    Title
    Le Rodeur: The Pulley
    Date
    2017
    Medium
    Acrylic on canvas
    Dimensions
    height: 183 cm, width: 244 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Hollybush Gardens, December 2017
    Inscription
    verso, bl: Lubaina Himid / 2017
    Provenance
    Hollybush Gardens; purchased by GAC 2017
    GAC number
    18741