Backra Bluid

January 6 - February 18, 2024

Backra (noun) mid-18th century Caribbean slang of West African origin: Any white person, particularly one in a position of power or authority.

Bluid (noun) Scottish term for blood or kin.

Backra Bluid is a series of photographic self-portraits by Stacey Tyrell. Through this body of work, Tyrell transforms herself into her imagined white relatives, investigating the artist’s mixed heritage and playfully rejecting the tendency to see identity as one dimensional. The resulting images are an uncanny reminder of the legacy of colonialism, and a call for a more nuanced understanding of ‘blackness’ and ‘whiteness.’

Featuring the work of:
Stacey Tyrell

Exhibition On View:
January 6 - February 18, 2024
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday - Sunday, 12pm - 5pm

Reception:
Friday, January 19, 5PM - 7PM
The SPAO Centre, 77 Pamilla St. 

STACEY TYRELL

Stacey Tyrell (b.1978) is a conceptual photo-based artist of Caribbean and Scottish descent. Currently based out of Brooklyn, Tyrell’s work examines identity, race and heritage in the context of post-colonial societies and the Caribbean Diaspora.

Tyrell was born and raised in Toronto, Canada to parents of Nevisian heritage and attended OCAD University with a major in Photography.  Her images have appeared in shows at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, and the Canadian Museum for Immigration.  Her work is part of the Royal Bank of Canada Fine Art Collection, the Center for Photography at Woodstock and the Wedge Permanent Collection.  

Her images have also been featured in such publications as The Focal press Companion to the Constructed Image, Lens Culture, Wasafiri Literary Journal, MFON: Women of the Diaspora, Canadian Art, Prefix Photo, Feature Shoot, Pictures From Paradise:  A Survey of Caribbean Photographers, Renewing Feminisms and See Me Here:  A Survey of Contemporary Self-Portraits from the Caribbean.