"Whip It Good" - Jeannette Ehlers

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 24: Artist Jeannette Ehlers performs her inaugural performance of 'Whip It Good'at Autograph on April 24, 2015 in London, England. Jeannette Ehlers' practice takes the form of simple actions, which erase, enhance or animate historical spaces, raising complex questions about memory, race and colonialism. In 'Whip It Good', Ehlers fiercely confronts national and personal histories in an effort to critically re-imagine and challenge racist systems of power and domination. During each performance, the artist radically transforms the whip - a potent sign and signifier of violence against the enslaved body - into a contemporary painting tool, evoking within both the spectators and the participants the physical and visceral brutality of the transatlantic slave trade. Deep black charcoal is rubbed into the whip, directed at a large-scale white canvas, and - following the artist'sinitial ritual - offered to members of the audience to complete the painting. The exhibition is organised by Autograph ABP in collaboration with guest curator Karen Alexander. Established in 1988 with the mission of advocating the inclusion of historically marginalised photographic practices, Autograph ABP is a charity that works internationally in photography and film, cultural identity, race, representation and human rights. Presented in two parts, seven evening performances in the gallery at 7pm between 24 - 30 April, followed by a seven-week exhibition, Whip it Good: Spinning From History's Filthy Mind retraces the footsteps of colonialism and maps the contemporary reverberations of the triangular slave trade via a series of performances that will result in a body of new 'action' paintings which will be on show at Rivington Place between 7 May to 20 June 2015. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)