Said Adrus Explained

Said Adrus
Birth Place:	Kampala, Uganda
Education:	Nottingham Trent University
Occupation:	Artist
Years Active:	1985-present
Known For:	Multimedia art, mixed media art

Said Adrus (born 1958) is an Ugandan-born British multidisciplinary artist. Adrus has lived in the UK, Switzerland, and other countries in Europe.

Biography

Adrus was born to Gujarati Muslim parents in 1958 in Kampala, Uganda,^[1] in what was at the time known as ‘British East Africa’. His family moved there being part of the British colonial project of moving South Asian people to East Africa to build railways. They then moved to Switzerland, where they still live. Adrus then moved to Britain, due to Idi Amin expelling the descendants of Gujarati indentured labourers, many of whom moved to the UK.^[2]

Adrus has a BA(Hons) in Fine Art awarded by the Nottingham Trent Polytechnic. He is a polyglot, speaking German, French, Hindi, Gujarati and English.

During the 1980s, his imagery has been described as computer paintings on canvas. He later turned to mixed media and multi-media ways of working, experimenting with the moving image and screen projection. Since 2015, he's been combining his digital media work with various materials that allude to his voyage from African and Asian coastlines to the Western hemisphere, describing migration and emigration in the modern setting.^[3]

He references Andy Warhol as an influence to his collage work, comparing Warhol's parodying of Western art conventions to his pushing of the boundaries of painting while keeping its elements.

Works

Group exhibitions

• 1985: Eastern Views: Works by Young Asian Artists from the Midlands^[4]
• 1985: Three Asian Artists
• 1988: Black Art: Plotting the Course
• 1988: Paintings by Said Adrus - Ceramics by Louise Block, Horizon Gallery, London.
• 1990: In Focus
• 1990: In Sight, in View
• 1990: "Let the Canvas Come to Life with Dark Faces”
• 1991: History and Identity: Seven Painters
• 1992: Black People and the British Flag
• 1992: Crossing Black Waters
• 1993: Transition of Riches^[5]
• 2008: Next We Change Earth^{[6] [7]}
• 2011: Recreating the Archive^[8]

Reviews, articles, and texts

• 1990: ‘It Ain’t Ethnic’, Black Arts in London, no. 128, (1–30 September), 5.

Talks and events

• 2016: Straight Outta Gyri^{[9] [10]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Diaspora-artists: View details. 2022-01-19. new.diaspora-artists.net.
2. Web site: 2012-08-06. Uganda: Forty Years After Idi Amin Expelled Asians. 2022-01-19. International Business Times.
3. Web site: ‘Entry prohibited…’ features artists of The Other EAPGROUP Eastern Art Report International Magazine of the Arts Founded 1989 News, Articles, Features, Book and Exhibition Reviews, Listings . 2022-01-19 . en-GB.
4. Book: Recordings: A Select Bibliography of Contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British Art. The Institute of International Visual Arts (inIVA) in collaboration with the Chelsea College of Arts. 1996. 1899846069. London. 43. English.
5. Book: Adrus, Said. Transition of riches. Akmut. Nilofar. Burman. Chila Kumari. Chuhan. Jagjit. Ghosh. Amal. Natt. Sarbjit. Patel. Anuradha. Patti. Symrath. Birmingham City Museum & Art Gallery; Smith Art Gallery & Museum; Southampton Art Gallery.. 1993. Birmingham. 46–49, 55. English.
6. Web site: NEXT WE CHANGE EARTH. 2022-01-19. www.nae.org.uk. en.
7. Web site: Diaspora-artists: View details. 2022-01-19. new.diaspora-artists.net.
8. Web site: 2021-09-10 . SAID ADRUS - Recreating the Archive (EN) - BRS . 2022-03-08 . Berner Rassismusstammtisch . de-DE.
9. Web site: Ausstellungsraum Klingental. 2022-01-19. ausstellungsraum.ch.
10. Web site: SCH – K A D I A T O U D I A L L O. 2022-01-19. en-US.