Pogus Caesar

Dr Pogus Caesar is a British multimedia artist, archivist, author, curator, television producer and director. He was born in St Kitts, West Indies, and grew up in Birmingham, England.

Early life

Pogus Caesar was born on the Caribbean island of St Kitts and came to the UK at an early age, growing up in Birmingham, Great Britain. A self-taught artist, Caesar took up painting seriously in his early 20s. His early work was influenced by French impressionist artist Georges-Pierre Seurat one of the foremost exponents of the pointillist technique. While Seurat built up his compositions from a multitude of tiny coloured spots, Caesar developed his own technique by using simple pens and ink, composing his paintings with thousands of tiny dots. This minutely detailed use of a fountain pen meant that even the smaller works took several months to complete.

After a visit to New York he developed an interest in photography using a basic film camera. The outcome has resulted in 18,000 vintage negatives. Caesar often reworks the 35mm images and conceptualises them into new forms challenging the notion of religion, sex, identity and race from a Black British perspective. Significant series include 'Handsworth Riots','South Africa - A Brighter Flame','US of A', 'Schwarz Flaneur', 'Get Naked' 'Into the Light' and 'Righting the Wrongs.' In 1995 Caesar produced and directed the series 'Xpress'for Carlton Television and was awarded a certificate of honour from Prix Circom Regional in recognition of exemplary professional work in regional television. He was presented with the Westmore Ezekiel Award in 2010 by the Birmingham Black International Film Festival for his contribution to British television. In 2018 Caesar was awarded a Honorary Doctorate by Birmingham City University for his outstanding contribution to the visual arts. He is a former member of Carlton Television Equal Opportunity Committee and a past Friend of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

Career

During the early 1980s Caesar became director of the West Midlands Minority Arts Service. He was also the first Chairman of Birmingham International Film & Television Festival.[1] For the Arts Council of Great Britain he curated with Lubiana Himid and contributed to exhibitions by Black artists including Into the Open (1984) and Caribbean Expressions in Britain (1986).

During the late 1980s Caesar began working in British television – originally as a journalist on Channel 4's Black on Black, then as producer and director of entertainment, sport and multicultural programmes for Central Television, Carlton Television and BBC. Radio programmes include Mr & Mrs Smith BRMB Radio and The Windrush E. Smith Show BBC West Midlands. In 1993 he founded a production company, Windrush Productions - programmes include I'm Black in Britain, Respect, Drumbeat and the award-winning multicultural series Xpress.

As a photographer and artist Caesar has worked in Spain, India, South America and Sweden and Denmark, South Africa, Albania and Jamaica documenting diverse communities. Caesar's artwork and photographs have been acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery represent important visual documents recording key figures in black British history. Caesar's first publication, Muzik Kinda Sweet, is a photography book featuring legendary black musicians including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Stevie Wonder and Grace Jones. The foreword for the book was written by Paul Gilroy and it was published by OOM Gallery Archive in 2010. His second book, Sparkbrook Pride 2011 consists of 70 black-and-white photos of residents of Sparkbrook. The book has a foreword written by Benjamin Zephaniah and an introduction by Paris-based photographer Nigel Dickinson. In 2015 his photographs documenting the 'Handsworth riots' was presented by the V&A at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Caesar was featured in Jacqui MacDonald’s book Portraits of Black Achievement: composing successful careers' (Lifetime Careers Ltd, 2001). The book included extended interviews with 70 black achievers, describing what it means to be black in Britain today.

Caesar's photographs and extensive archives documenting Birmingham Black History is held in Birmingham Central Library Archives, Digital Handsworth and Connecting Histories. He has exhibited widely, his work held in public and private collections in the United Kingdom, Europe and US. OOM Gallery Archive represents Caesar's work worldwide and includes his photographic record of 18,000 35mm archival negatives.

Images from OOM Gallery Archives have been used by Tate, BBC TV, Carlton TV, Macmillan Publishers, Outside Left Magazine, University of Warwick, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Wolverhampton University, Digital Handsworth, Birmingham Central Library, The History Channel, Connecting Histories, The Otolith Group, Birmingham City Archives, Dollee.com, IOnOne Magazine, FACT, [Liverpool University Press,The Independent

Notable exhibitions

  • Pogus Caesar Paintings – Cartwright Hall, Bradford, 1985. Solo exhibition
  • Instamatic Views of New York – National Museum of Film and Photography, Bradford, 1986. Solo exhibition
  • Into The Open – Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, 1984 (as Curator/Exhibitor). Group exhibition
  • Caribbean Expressions in Britain – The Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery, 1986 Central Museum and Art Gallery, Northampton, 1986 Cartwright Hall, Bradford, 1987 (as Curator/Exhibitor). Group exhibition
  • Break in the Seal – Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry, 1988. Joint exhibition
  • Sharp Voices, Still Lives – Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 1990. Group exhibition
  • Vibes: The Roots of Urban Music – Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry, 2004 / Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, 2005. Group exhibition[2]
  • Burning Images – Revolution Through The Lens – The Drum, Birmingham, 2005. Group exhibition[3]
  • Handsworth Riots - Twenty Summers On – OOM Gallery / BBC Mailbox, Birmingham, 2005. Solo exhibition[4]
  • Muzik Kinda Sweet – Photographs 1985 – 2009 – OOM Gallery, Birmingham, 2005. Solo exhibition
  • Muzik Kinda Sweet – Photographs 1985 – 2009 – British Music Experience, O2, London, 2011. Solo exhibition
  • From Jamaica Row – Rebirth of the Bullring – OOM Gallery, Birmingham, 2006. Solo exhibition[5]
  • Seeing Slavery – Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, 2007. Group exhibition
  • Religion, Slavery and Diaspora – Horniman Museum & Garden, London, 2007. Group exhibition
  • Trespassers Will Be Shot – Survivors Will Be Shot Again – Images of Joburg & Capetown – Friction Arts, Birmingham, 2007. Solo exhibition
  • The Art of Ideas – Birmingham, UK, 2008. Group exhibition[6]
  • That Beautiful Thing – Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, 2008. Solo exhibition[1]
  • That Beautiful Thing – Three White Walls Gallery, Birmingham, 2008. Solo exhibition
  • From Jamaica Row – Rebirth of the Bullring – Kinetic AIU, Birmingham, 2008–09. Solo exhibition
  • Muzik Kinda Sweet: Photographs 1985–2009 – Fazeley Studios, Birmingham, 2009. Solo exhibition
  • Pattern Recognition – City Gallery, Leicester, 2009. Group exhibition[7]
  • Participation: The film and workshop movement 1979–1991 – VIVID Birmingham Exhibition and archive project, 2009
  • South Africa – Brighter Flame – Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 2010. Solo exhibition
  • Muzik Kinda Sweet – British Music Experience, O2, London, UK. 2011. Solo exhibition
  • Reggae Kinda Sweet – Trinity Centre, Bristol, UK. 2012. Solo exhibition
  • Reggae Kinda Sweet – The Drum, Birmingham, UK. 2013. Solo exhibition
  • Islands on the Edge: Atlantic Wharf Gallery, Boston USA 2015. Group exhibition
  • Staying Power: V&A Museum, London UK 2015. Group exhibition

Throughout the years Pogus Caesar has provided support and development for a host of educational and cultural initiatives throughout the city of Birmingham and The Midlands regions.

Television

As presenter

  • Here & Now (Central Television, 1985–89)
  • I'm Black in Britain (Central Television, 1993) – also Producer. 30-minute documentary investigating racism in Britain.
  • Drumbeat (Carlton Television, 1999) – also Series Editor; 6 x 60-minute entertainment/current affairs series.

As series editor

  • Drumbeat (Carlton Television, 1999) – also Series Editor. 6 x 60 min entertainment / current affairs series

As journalist

As director

  • One World (Central Television, 1990)

As producer / director

  • An Eye on X (Windrush Productions/Carlton Television/Arts Council of Great Britain, 1995).[8] Film on micro sculptor Willard Wigan
  • Aaliyah (Windrush Productions/Carlton Television, 1995), on American singer Aaliya
  • Edwin Starr (Windrush Productions/Carlton Television, 1995), on American soul singer Edwin Starr
  • Love in Kenya (Windrush Productions/Carlton Television, 1995). English woman on holiday finds love with Kenyan man.
  • 15 Minute Meals (Windrush Productions/Carlton Television), 1995. Six chefs from around the world cook up local dishes in 15 minutes.
  • Xpress (Windrush Productions/Carlton Television, 1995), 12 x 30min entertainment series
  • Respect (Carlton Television, 1995), 6 x 30min sports series / documentary on boxer Lennox Lewis
  • Respect (Carlton, Television, 1995), 6 x 30min sports series / documentary on rugby player Martin Offiah
  • Respect (Carlton, 1995), 6 x 30min sports series, documentaries on athlete Judy Simpson
  • Respect (Carlton, 1995), 6 x 30min sports series, documentary on footballer Tony Daley
  • Respect (Carlton, 1995), 6 x 30min sports series, documentary on athlete John Regis
  • Respect (Carlton, 1995), 6 x 30min sports series, documentary on disabled tennis player Diana Bowles
  • The A-Force (BBC, 1997), 6 x 60min entertainment series, lifestyle film on Jada Pinkett Smith, Dave Chappelle, John Singleton, Isaac Hayes in Canada
  • The A-Force (BBC, 1997), 6 x 60min entertainment series, lifestyle film of footballer George Weah in Italy
  • The A-Force (BBC, 1997), 6 x 60min entertainment series, lifestyle film of footballer John Barnes in Italy
  • The Way Forward (Windrush/Birmingham Education Dept, 1999)

Selected films

As director / producer

  • Francesca's Key (OOM Gallery/Isis Regeneration/MADE), 2007, Fantasy adventure film.
  • Reflections (Windrush Productions / Millennium Commission), 1999 – also Producer.
  • Forward Ever Backward Never (Windrush Productions, 2002), commissioned by London-based Artangel Interaction – located in Cuba, tragic love story set against the backdrop of 19th-century slavery. Screened at Lumiere, London / UGC Cinema Arcadian, Birmingham / Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham / Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre / Unity Theatre, Liverpool.
  • Should Black Art Still Be Beautiful, 2006 – as Executive Producer
  • The Diver – Film set against the backdrop of Morocco, young boy in search of his father and gets caught up in terrorist web. 2008
  • Aaliyah Live in Amsterdam – The late hip-hop superstar Aaliyah filmed live in concert, Amsterdam, 1995. 2010

References

  1. 1 2 Shannon, Roger (8 May 2008). "Life through a lens with Pogus Caesar". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  2. ↑ VIBES/Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.
  3. ↑ Burning Images Exhibition, 2005.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "From Jamaica Row – Rebirth of the Bullring". Photographs of the development of Birmingham's Bullring OOM Gallery/Pogus Caesar.
  6. ↑ The Art of Ideas.
  7. ↑ Pattern Recognition exhibition, The City Gallery, Leicester.
  8. ↑ An Eye On X – Arts On Film.
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