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Frieze Week London 2023

Liz Johnson Artur: 20 Years in Sketchbooks

The London artist revisits the last two decades in celebration of Frieze’s 20th anniversary, with a specially commissioned new poem from James Massiah

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BY Liz Johnson Artur AND James Massiah in Frieze London , Frieze Week Magazine | 15 OCT 23

Surprise the party

Got them

Shocking out

Compromised nothing

Planned it

Made it

So

Flash like so

Boom like so

Bang like so

So

Where you ah guh

How you ah move suh

Who you ah deal wid

Come like so

Surprised me

With the lighter

Never knew you smoked

Choked

Laughed

Shocking out

Involuntary reactions

Listening to Freud

Dancing to Fred Locks

We ain't dead yet

But will soon

So

Surprise the party

Disappear

With two in tow

You and I

So

To and fro

One day though

Surprise the party

Come

Skank

Pon

Your

Toe

Shocking out

Never knew you done it so

Not so-so

More like suh

Suh

Suh

Suh

— James Massiah

 

Liz Johnson Artur, Miss Jason, London, 2020. Courtesy: the artist 

Liz Johnson Artur, Carnival, 1993. Courtesy: the artist 

Liz Johnson Artur, Max’s party, London, 2021. Courtesy: the artist 

Liz Johnson Artur, Stella’s friend, London, 1995. Courtesy: the artist 

Liz Johnson Artur, PDA, London, 2018. Courtesy: the artist 

This article first appeared in Frieze Week, London 2023 under the headline 'Flash Like So'

Main image: Liz Johnson Artur, Stella’s friend, London, 1995. Courtesy: the artist 
L
LIZ JOHNSON ARTUR

Liz Johnson Artur is an artist. In 2021, she was awarded the Women in Motion Award for photography by the Rencontres d’Arles and Kering. A special display of her work is on view at Tate Modern, London, UK. She lives in London.

J
JAMES MASSIAH

James Massiah is a poet, musician and host of ‘The Poætry Show’ on NTS Radio. His most recent volume, New Poems (Volume Four) (2022), is available on Bandcamp. He lives in London, UK.

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