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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 

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.

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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