This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition Sondra Perry: Typhoon coming on (6 March – 20 May 2018) at the Serpentine Galleries. This show is the first solo presentation of Perry’s work in Europe. She has created an immersive environment with a newly-conceived soundscape to accompany her animation Typhoon coming on (2018), which features a digitally manipulated image of J.M.W. Turner’s 1840 painting Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On).

Sondra Perry constructs multifaceted narratives that explore the imagining, or imaging, of blackness throughout history. Often taking her own life as a point of departure, she makes works that revolve specifically around black American experiences and the ways in which technology and identities are entangled. Her use of digital tools and platforms, such as Chroma key blue screens, 3D avatars, open source software, and footage found online, reflects critically on representation itself. Perry’s investigations demonstrate that digital technology functions as an attribute of power, and another tool that reimagines the possibilities of networked collectivity.

This accompanying publication designed by Kristin Metho is Perry’s first catalogue. The essays by Nora N. Khan, Natasha Marie Llorens and Soyoung Yoon, which were commissioned for this catalogue, provide great insight into her practice. The reprinted texts - the chapter ‘Branding Blackness’ from Simone Browne’s Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness (2015) and Elizabeth Alexander’s essay ‘“Can you be BLACK and Look at this?”: Reading the Rodney King Video(s)’ published in 1994 - offer context for reading Perry’s work and have been foundational source texts in the development of the artist’s thinking. This volume also includes a copy of Perry’s zine designed by Haynes Riley and produced on the occasion of the artist’s exhibition at The Kitchen, New York in 2016. It features contributions by manuel arturo abreu, Hannah Black, Aria Dean, Robert Jones, Jr., Sable Elyse Smith, Hito Steyerl and Lumi Tan. - Serpentine Gallery

Authors Nora N. Khan Elizabeth Alexander Soyoung Yoon Sondra Perry manuel arturo abreu Hannah Black Aria Dean Robert Jones, Jr. Sable Elyse Smith Hito Steyerl Lumi Tan Simone Browne Natasha Marie Llorens