London’s Felix & Spear Gallery have just announced the representation of Sierra Leonean-British artist, filmmaker and poet Amanda Holiday, this seems like something worth of mention today, if you don’t know why, then maybe take a look at her website and treat yourself to a look
“Amanda Holiday was born in Sierra Leone in 1964 and moved to the north of England at the age of five. She studied Fine Art at Wimbledon School of Art and was actively involved in the UK Black arts movement, exhibiting in landmark Black art exhibitions during the 1980s, before transitioning into film.
In 1989, she directed the Arts Council–funded documentary Employing the Image, which examines the lives and work of five young Black British artists, including Sonia Boyce and Zarina Bhimji. This was followed by the one-minute film Manao Tupapau, which reanimates a Gauguin painting from the perspective of the model. Her BFI-funded experimental drama Miss Queencake reimagines elements of Gauguin’s life as a decolonial anti-narrative. From 2001 to 2010, Holiday was based in Cape Town, where she worked in educational television.
Her 1987 drawing Red Riding Hood was exhibited in Women in Revolt!, which toured from Tate Britain in 2024 to the Whitworth, Manchester, in 2025. In the same year, she undertook a UKRI travel research fellowship at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Her artworks have been included in the group exhibitions Bloom Song and Gloam, both presented by Vivienne Roberts Projects, and her drawing The Sense is currently on view in the Courtauld’s East Wing Biennial until 2027. Holiday has been selected as one of two artists representing the UK at the Malta Biennale 26. She is currently completing a PhD in Poetry, Race and Art at the University of Brighton”. The text comes from Felix & Spear
And talking of Felix and Spear. we do have mention Paul Dash…
Here’s an instalation shot of the current Paul Dash show at Felix and Spear. We did preview the show late last year – ORGAN: Five Recommended Art Shows – Paul Dash at Felix & Spear… we haven’t made it to the show yet, it opened in mid December, it is on until 8th March 2026 – and we did say as part of that preview that our five show recommendations are usually in no particular order but we really did have to start off with the wonderful paintings of Paul Dash, they really are a treat when you see them in the flesh, in real life, when you can just stand in front of them.
“Felix & Spear is pleased to present Paul Dash: Dancing in the Street, an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and etchings by the British-Caribbean artist Paul Dash (b. 1946)”. A show that is coinciding with the launch of a new publication on the artist, the exhibition celebrates Dash’s enduring commitment to art, education, and the representation of diasporic experience.
“A key member of the Caribbean Artists Movement, Dash’s work traces scenes of everyday life and communal celebration with rhythmic energy and deep cultural resonance. His compositions evoke the movement, colour, and ritual of social gatherings—spaces where histories of migration and belonging find joyful expression. The accompanying publication, edited by Cameron Amiri, Director of Felix & Spear, features newly commissioned essays, offering new perspectives on Dash’s artistic and educational contributions, serving as an essential resource for curators, educators, and researchers alike”.
“It has been a privilege to edit this book dedicated to the life and work of Paul Dash,” says Cameron Amiri. “His paintings, distinguished by their chromatic intensity and rhythmic structure, emerge from his trajectory from Barbados to Britain and from the broader histories of the Caribbean diaspora. They engage critically with questions of memory, belonging, and identity, while simultaneously foregrounding the enduring significance of community and cultural resilience.”
About Paul Dash: “Born in Barbados in 1946, Paul Dash came to Britain in 1957. He trained as an artist at Oxford Polytechnic and the Chelsea School of Art and went on to teach for more than twenty years in London secondary schools before becoming a lecturer in Educational Studies at the University of London. He was awarded his PhD by the University of London in 2009 and retired in 2011 as a Senior Lecturer in Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Dash was a member of the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM). He remains a practising painter and has exhibited at numerous venues across the United Kingdom and internationally. His works are represented in major public and private collections. He was awarded the Senior Fellowship of the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to art, craft, and design education. He is also a recipient of the Barbados Government Golden Jubilee Award for Outstanding Service to the United Kingdom and the Windrush Award for Outstanding Achievement in Education” And on top of that, can I just add Paul is a really nice guy to talk about art with, I have been lucky enough to do so a couple of times during his studio open days in Hackney Wic
Felix & Spear is found at 71 St. Mary’s Road, London, W5 5RG. The space is open Wednesday until Sunday, 11am until 6pm weekdays, Midday until 3pm on the weekends. More about Paul Dash
THE ORGAN 