The first word that comes to mind when looking at Sola Olulode’s new works, currently on display at Ed Cross gallery, is radiant. Every piece is a striking blend of yellow and orange hues, and across the works a romantic story seems to unspool. Against a golden background glow, Black women hold each other, and clasp hands, and walk towards a vast sunset that could also be a portal into a luminous new world. In one work, aptly titled In the Bubble of Your Love, inky clusters of bubbles float around a couple as they raise their joined hands in an ecstatic dance. In others, Olulode’s recurring sun motif seems to slip into a halo effect. Burning, like the star that showed us to our love is an immersive exhibition – Olulode’s glowing works hang on sheets of tie-dyed blue silk, which drape the gallery walls like curtains. The impression is of a softly clouded sky studded with many suns. Surrounded by halos and beams of warm light, it feels like you're in a heavenly space – a utopian dream state full of Black queer joy, tenderness and intimacy. The whole room simply radiates love.
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