Everlyn Nicodemus
Everlyn Nicodemus opens her first retrospective exhibition, at National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One in Edinburgh.
About Everlyn Nicodemus
Experience Everlyn’s joyful, defiant and searingly honest artworks, with over 80 drawings, collages, paintings and textiles from the last 40 years of her career through to the present day. Following a 25-year break from painting, Everlyn Nicodemus will unveil a series of new artworks created especially for the exhibition.
Championing a belief that creativity is a form of healing, Everlyn’s work responds to themes such as the global oppression of women, the enduring impact of racism and the artist’s own personal trauma and recovery. Visitors to Everlyn Nicodemus will marvel at her bold and courageous use of colour, form, light and shade, inviting them to explore and question their understanding of identity, belonging and faith. This stirring exhibition was made possible because Everlyn was the recipient of the prestigious Freelands Award in 2022. Presented by Freelands Foundation, the annual prize is gifted in support of women artists underrepresented in their field.
An artist, writer and curator, Everlyn Nicodemus was born in Marangu, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania in 1954. Living and working across Europe since the mid-1970s, Everlyn has made Edinburgh her home for the last fifteen years. Throughout her career, she has taken an active involvement in community life, using her gift of expression to highlight the shared oppression of women. Her pioneering scholarship on African modern art and trauma studies has also informed her practice.
Since the 1980s, Everlyn has made paintings, collages and works on paper that explore violence against women, personal trauma and the isolation and dehumanisation of living within structural racism. Everlyn Nicodemus will chart her career from those early days, with works including her very first painting, After the Birth (1980). At over two metres in length, this oil on bark cloth painting shows a large-scale image of a mother and child, brought to life through swirling, wavy black and white lines against a rich terracotta background. The mother figure is seen protectively placed over the child; however, her face is covered by her hands, her body hunched in a state of recovery. This scene gives a sense of deep emotions such as uncertainty and isolation; the often-unspoken elements of motherhood. Even in her earliest work, Everlyn’s skill as a visual storyteller is clear, compassionately highlighting women’s shared experiences and struggles.
From her earliest work, to the newest, the exciting debut of Everlyn’s new series Lazarus Jacaranda (2022-24) will form a key element of this exhibition, signifying an end to the artist’s 25-year hiatus from painting. While not directly referencing the biblical character in the series’ title, the paintings consider themes of cyclical life and Everlyn’s belief that ‘art is resurrection’. Female figures, both archetypes and named individuals, are shown in relaxed and restful poses, their feet supported by flowers and petals that spring powerfully to life. These paintings have much in common with Everlyn’s earlier artworks, from the colour palette and confident celebration of the female body seen in Silent Strength (1989-90), to the botanical elements present in her largest body of work, The Wedding (1990-94). This marks a resurrection of Everlyn’s own work from the past, influencing her present practice.
This long overdue retrospective focussing on the life and work of Everlyn Nicodemus is a celebration of the compassion, creativity and care which she has led with throughout her 40 years as an artist. Everlyn Nicodemus is waiting to be discovered by new audiences at Modern One this winter.
Visitors to Everlyn Nicodemus can enjoy a free audio tour as part of their experience. Led by Everlyn herself, listeners will be guided around the exhibition as she highlights selected works and delves deeper into her inspirations, experiences and creative process.
Everlyn Nicodemus is accompanied by a generously illustrated catalogue, featuring a new interview with the artist by Perrin Lathrop (Assistant Curator of African Art at Princeton University Art Museum). The book also includes essays from Professor Eddie Chambers (David Bruton, Jr. Centennial Professorship in Art History at the University of Texas at Austin), Catherine de Zegher (curator, modern and contemporary art historian), and Stephanie Straine (curator of the exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland).
Image: Everlyn Nicodemus, Silent Strength 38, 1990. Copyright the Artist
Where possible we will update our listings to notify of cancelled, postponed and rescheduled events, however we STRONGLY ADVISE that you check with the venue/organiser in the first instance for updates.
All information (whether in text or photographs) is supplied in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact.GOT AN EVENT TO SHARE? It's free to post your events on What's On Edinburgh, click here to find out more!
Want to be the first to hear about what's happening in Edinburgh? Follow us on Facebook and join the What's On Scotland Group!Sponsored Links
Other Events at National Galleries of Scotland: Modern
Resistance
Resistance explores how acts of resistance have shaped life in the UK, and the powerful role of photography in documenting and driving change.
READ MORE
ARTIST ROOMS
Discover three of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art at Modern One this summer with a series of free ARTIST ROOMS displays in Edinburgh.
READ MORESponsored Links
Similar events you might like...
Synaesthesia – Open Reception of Ben Lesko’s interactive photography exhibition
Come along to Leith Makers on Friday 7th November for the Open Reception of Synaesthesia, an interactive photography exhibition by Ben Lesko!
READ MORE
MOVEMENT: A ceramics exhibition by the Bridge Pottery Collective
The Bridge Pottery Collective presents the work of its members in MOVEMENT, an exhibition exploring the dynamics of ceramics. Catch it at Scot-ART from 8th - 15th November!
READ MORE
Diaspora In Vogue exhibition and fashion show
Diaspora in vogue is a cultural exhibition and amazing fashion show involving talented fashion designers and creatives and young models, taking place at Ladywell House on 8th November.
READ MORE
Silver, Salt and Songs: Exhibition Launch
Join Jill de Fresnes, Christine Kydd and Patsy Seddon to celebrate the launch of the Silver, Salt and Stories exhibition, running at the Scottish Storytelling Centre during November.
READ MORE
Edinburgh HI-AV Show
Join us at The Doubletree by Hilton Edinburgh Airport on 8th & 9th November when the Edinburgh HI-AV Show returns!
READ MORE
Exhibition of Paintings by Gerry McGowan
Come along to Patriothall in Stockbridge for an exhibition of paintings by Gerry McGowan, recently selected as a finalist for the Scottish Landscape Awards 2025.
READ MORE
Exhibition: Silver, Salt and Stories - Images and Memories of the Scots Herring Women
The exhibition by Jill de Fresnes is centred around filmed interviews with 12 Scottish women who worked as herring gutters from the 1920s through to the 1960s.
READ MORE
Méabh Breathnach
In Bodies of Work (in progress), Méabh Breathnach uses ceramics, metal and the body as materials, tools, and sources of inspiration in the creation of both sculptural and functional objects.
READ MORE
Digital Scotland 2025
Digital Scotland is Scotland’s largest digital transformation summit for public sector policy and technology leaders, taking place at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 19th November.
READ MOREFind other events in Edinburgh
Sponsored Links