Exiting the Forest, Into a Sea of Open Arms follows the emerging practices of 17 Black male identifying artists who collectively make-up vibrantform – a recently formed collective of artists and cultural workers. Through conceptual and material exploration, this group of 3rd generation post-war Black artists working in the UK continue the intellectual traditions of exploring Black Western modernity and contemporary society through a lens of what Paul Gilroy refers to as the Black Atlantic. The vastness in interpretation of mediums and pluriversal perspectives paired with the collective’s values of presence and mutual respect creates an exhibition that reflects the generative power of collective care and engagement.

The title of this exhibition places both the artist and the viewer in a forest – a space of complications, contradictions, and confusion, in which geographic, historic, and cultural circumstances engulf the artwork both intentionally and unintentionally – in search of a way to actively ameliorate this tension. Some artists are examining themes of psychogeographic effects on the human psyche through photographic portals and sculpted balconies, while others are using technologies such as literature and ritual as modes of investigation into global experiences that both honor and transcend diasporic epochs.

vibrantform’s works, in totality, spans portraiture, sculpture, assemblage, sound, archival intervention, and photography combining personal and collective memory with folklore and speculative gestures. Amalgamated, these ideas shape exchange, intimacy, and a way forward – leading us to a sea of relief, respite, and fellowship.

Exiting the Forest, Into a Sea of Open Arms is both a reflection of collective interests and a record of relational processes: discovering how affinities emerge, where tensions surface, and which modes of care, familiarity, and accountability can exist between Black men navigating artistic and personal life together.