The Clifford Chance law firm has hosted an annual Pride Art event since 2007, with exhibitions on display across its international offices. This year, Nigel Grimmer – mixed media artist and Senior Lecturer in Visual Arts Practice with Bedfordshire’s School of Art & Design – has a piece of artwork in its London display. This is one of many art shows Nigel will be participating in this summer, as the UK’s creative communities emerge from lockdown.

Titled ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’, the exhibition invited a variety of queer artists to present one piece of work produced during lockdown. Clifford Chance hope to open up on-site viewings in the future, but currently the exhibition is online only. Viewers can also enjoy a curator talk and a virtual tour of the show.

On having his piece featured in the exhibition, Nigel commented:

“I hope that Pride themed exhibitions will help to build a dialogue between different generations of queer audiences, especially in this year where there is a greater reaction against the corporate face of Pride.

“Much of my current work looks at contemporary representations of the queer body, especially within social media. I’ve collaborated with many inspirational volunteers from a variety of apps who helped me keep motivated during a year of working from home and social distancing.

“I am delighted to be a part of the Love in the Time of Cholera exhibition and hope that the public will be able to view it in person soon.”

The exhibition is set to end with a closing party, the details of which will be confirmed at a later date.

The Beds lecturer has also been featured in a new 120-page book, UN/TITLED – An Anthology of Queer Contemporary Art // 2016 – 2020, which celebrates art and artists linked to the Balaclava.Q queer visual art project. The portfolio anthology was made available to the public in May 2021.

These two exciting developments come as part of a summer when Nigel will be showcasing work he produced during lockdown. On 13^th May, a new body of his work was exhibited at Skin Deep, running in the James Freeman Gallery in London until 5^th June. During the exhibition’s open dates, Nigel also took part in a ‘meet the artists’ event which the organisers say was a huge success.

Internationally, Nigel has a solo exhibition featured at Art Helix Gallery in New York. The show, Analogue Disruptions, can be viewed online, along with an interview with Nigel about the work and advice for students. While Covid-19 related restrictions have prevented the show from having visitors, a physical exhibition is due to take place later in the year.

On his summer of exhibitions, Nigel added: “It’s been amazing to take part in all of these opportunities, especially after a year of lockdown. It’s been liberating to finally share a year of new work with the public.”

For information about courses in the University of Bedfordshire’s School of Art and Design, visit: www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/departments/ad