Lakwena Maciver on her immersive installation for Christie’s: TENDER LOVING CARE

The artist Lakwena Maciver emerged 10 years ago with a series of eye-popping murals. She makes works that provoke a reaction: you must give yourself up to them, dive in and embrace the giddying dislocation of colour, text and images slamming into one another like a cartoon punch-up on the Disney channel.

‘I’m interested in activating space,’ she says of her transformation of train stations, shopping precincts, art galleries, and even a detention centre, into creations of staggeringly psychedelic abstraction.

Born in 1986, Maciver studied graphic design at University of the Arts, London. Her training in design means that, even at their most complex, her murals remain a controlled riot of form and colour. In the past she has described her artworks as ‘painted prayers’, and there is an uplifting optimism to her vision that echoes the positive symbols of her faith and the ‘Superreal’ aesthetic of Black Power artists. The words incorporated into her works are derived from pop music, slogans and Acholi — the language spoken in northern Uganda, where her father is from.

For Frieze Week, Maciver has collaborated with Christie’s on an immersive installation for the interior and exterior of the company’s headquarters on King Street in London. The work, titled TENDER LOVING CARE, is a celebration of the city’s vibrant cultural life.

Maciver’s 2022 canvas, HA-HA 8 (2022), will also be offered in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on 14 October 2023, part of a group of works being sold for the MOWAA Rainforest Gallery and the Nigeria Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale.

Below, the artist talks to us about her practice and the Christie’s installation.

What was the first artwork that mattered to you?

Lakwena Maciver: The first piece of work that really mattered to me was a street mural I painted in the Wynwood district of Miami in 2013 for the Women on the Walls art series that read ‘I Remember Paradise’. I had never done anything of that size before and it showed people what I was capable of.

There is a vibrancy and a rhythm to your work — is music a big part of your life?

LM: Music is a big part of my story. I grew up in a family of singers, and it comes out in my art as words and colours. I’m interested in how you visually convey an emotion, or a sensation graphically. Music fills a room, it activates and fills the space, and that is very much what I am trying to do with my art.

You transfigure ordinary places into these intense psychological spaces. Is there a particular place that has had an influence on you?

LM: I love Brazil. I lived there after studying graphic design, and it was the first place I painted a mural. It has a vibrant culture of public art that had an influence on me, not because of any one artist or movement, but because of the energy, colours and spirit of the place. It took me out of myself. I am a firm believer that you are subconsciously influenced by the places you live.

Are you trying to disrupt our perception of the world around us?

LM: There is an element of gentle disruption in my work. I speak a lot about values and beliefs that are important to me. I am not trying to preach. I want to provoke people to question the spirit of the culture and place around them.

Your work investigates the urban environment. Are you also interested in other spaces?

LM: I’m interested in the spaces people inhabit: much of that is digital right now. I’m excited by the idea that I can meet people in different spaces, because I don’t want to be speaking to only one section of society. I am very open to working in fashion — the clothes people put on is such an important mode of expression.

What materials do you use to make art?

LM: Paint is my primary medium. To create a permanent wall or floorscape I’d use paint; but vinyl is the best solution I’ve found for filling a space quickly. The colours and patterns I choose are intuitive. Similarly to the Abstract Expressionists, I do see colour as a liberation of energy and emotion.

Has there ever been a space that you couldn’t tackle?

LM: It is never about the size of the space I am invited to work in — it is about the restrictions imposed. There are always limitations. The important thing is that I feel able to express myself within those boundaries. At Christie’s, it was about making sure I could disrupt a very traditional space enough for me to feel satisfied, which is where the whole floorscape came in and the choice to cover the building’s windows.

Tell us about the installation you have created for Christie’s.

LM: As an artist, I am interested in the different ways culture is made and preserved. Christie’s is a holder of culture — it ensures objects are looked after and valued. Yes, there is a financial incentive, but that also ensures that these objects are not lost, but protected and preserved for the future.

TENDER LOVING CARE speaks about the way we care for our culture. I have three children — the youngest was born in February. So I think a lot about motherhood and the duty of care we have to the next generation. Those ideas are very present in my work.

Explore Christie’s 20th and 21st Century Art auctions in London and Paris, throughout October 2023