The pandemic hasn’t stopped Grant from getting his work out to the world. 

‘I think we will all agree that it has been a strange year,’ says Grant. ‘Everything seems to be ‘if, possibly or maybe’ or ‘Let’s see what happens in the spring’.
But despite these global challenges, in my own small way, I have been fortunate to have my work in three exhibitions this year.’

Word by Grant: 

The first exhibition was in March, curated by Klára Némethy, was with the very talented German photographer Markus Lehr. Our exhibition, several years in the planning, Mise – En – Scène opened at the legendary André Kirchner Gallery on Friday 13th March 2020 and then closed its doors to the public on Monday 16th of March as a result of Berlin going into Lockdown. Visitors strictly by appointment. Much to my surprise, people made appointments. We had to think differently so we put the exhibition online. My surprise is fueled by my own experience of barely leaving my apartment for over a month and a half.

The second exhibition was part of a huge release of cultural energy that is Berlin Gallery Weekend. For this I was invited to show in GH36 Berlin. A gallery with soul on Grosse Hamburger Strasse, in Mitte. Released from the restrictions of Lockdown the social life of this wonderful part of the city lifted over the summer months of 2020. Despite its undeniable hipness, I have never seen a gallery that has done more to be part of the local neighborhood and is so successful in changing opinions about galleries and the visual arts. “We are open” is on the door and in their hearts.

The third exhibition was European Month of Photography, this October, thirteen European photographers and one Brit (European at heart) were invited by Marianne Kapfer, the distinguished Berlin Curator, to exhibit as part of the Centenary of Greater Berlin, 1920–2020. This was going to be a much bigger exhibition with a whole cultural offer throughout Berlin to mark this centenary. As a result of the pandemic it was scaled back to two floors of the incredibly beautiful Kühlhaus Berlin, an exhibition space in a central Berlin converted factory that it is at the heart of the Berlin contemporary art scene. I was thrilled to be invited and I really had a jaunty stride being the British lens-based artist present. Bosh! Take that Brexit.

It feels like it has been a big year.