As part of LGBTQ+ History Month, Under Our Skin arrives at the gallery space inside Brixton Tate Library with a bold, intimate and deeply resonant group exhibition running from 5–26 February.
Curated by openly queer artist Xavier White, Under Our Skin brings together 35 artists and more than 50 artworks, spanning emerging voices through to established figures such as Sunil Gupta. The result is a rich, multi-layered exploration of queer identity, memory and survival.
The exhibition examines what lies beneath the surfaces we are taught to present to the world, the lessons absorbed, the masks worn, and the truths we eventually allow to emerge. Through diverse queer perspectives, Under Our Skin explores how identity is shaped, tested and embodied. From classrooms to coming out, from bullying to belonging, the works on display expose the people, places and experiences that have quite literally got under our skin.
These are stories of damage and discovery, of words that bruised and lessons that liberated. Together, the artworks reveal the marks that made us, scars formed through survival, resilience and self-recognition. It’s an exhibition that invites reflection, empathy and connection, while celebrating the complexity of queer lives across generations.
Artists featured include: Andy Matheson, Athrú, Åsa Johannesson, BadenClare, Bee (beeillustrates), Beth Hunt, Casper Hong, Chris Hughes-Copping, Christopher Lieberman, Ciáran C., Conor Collins, Eli Delbaere, Eva Sbaraini, Fiona Freund, Finn Brown, Gavin Dobson, IJ Duncan, Iain Gillespie, James Robert Morrison, Judeam Journal, Kevin Kane, Luke Anthony Rooney, Luke Beech, Marceline Birkholz, Marcia White, Marty Davies, Nigel Grimmer, Olympia Alsawi, Román Lokati, Roxana Halls, Sunil Gupta & Charan Singh, Wayward Photo, Xavier White and Ying (HsinYing Lin).
Under Our Skin is a timely, thoughtful and necessary exhibition — one that honours queer history by centring lived experience, vulnerability and truth.
Under Our Skin
📍 Brixton (Tate) Library, Brixton Oval, London SW2 1JQ
📅 5–26 February
🌐 https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/libraries
