
Born in the Bronx in 1949, Rita is of Caribbean and Black-Canadian descent and moved to London in 1980 having studied Fine Art at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1969-1972. Her work explores memory, history, dress and adornment, often through the use of her extensive family archive – a photo- graphic record of a black middle class Canadian family dating from 1890s to present day.
Alongside contemporaries Keith Piper and Gary Stewart, her practice is a defining example of the ways in which new media experimentation intersect with the British Black Arts Movement. In the aftermath of the 1981 Brixton uprisings, Rita helped establish the Brixton Art Gallery, curating Mirror Reflecting Darkly, the first exhibition by The Black Women Artists collective in 1982.
She was the co-founder in 1984 of Copy Art, a resource and education space for community groups and artists working with the emerging technologies of computers, scanners and photocopiers. From 1985 – 1990 Rita was a staff member of the Women Artists Slide Library (WASL), where she established the Women Artists of Colour Index. In the early 1990s she was the Director of the African and Asian Visual Arts Archive (AAVAA). Alongside her artistic and archival practice, Rita also taught New Media and Digital Diversity at Goldsmiths, where she helped establish the digital-media undergraduate.
Employment
1995-2000 | Lecturer at Goldsmiths University, Historical and Cultural Studies MA Fine Art Administration and Curatorship |
1992-1994 | Director, African and Asian Visual Artists Archive (AAVAA) |
1988-1992 | Coordinator, Women Artists Slide Library |
Selected Exhibition History
2004/5 | Ghost of a chance Bath Hot House/Wolsey Art Gallery, group |
2002 | Celebration Kingston Museum, group |
2002 | Portential John Hansard Gallery &Holland, group |
2001 | Inner & Outer Space 1234 Gallery, Port of Spain, Trinadad, group |
1999/2000 | Transformations The Horniman Museum London, solo |
1999 | Back and Wired Artizem, Luton, solo |
1999 | Out-Fit The Waterman’s London, solo |
1999 | Encounter Madrid, Spain, group |
1998 | Family History 198 Gallery London, solo |
1997/8 | Transforming the Crown New York, U.S.A, group |
1996 | Lovebytes-96 UK Touring, group |
1994/5 | Time Machine The British Museum London, group |
1994 | L.P. W. Artists Exchange London/Brazil, group |
1994 | 4th World Artists The Gallery X Theresa Mexico City, group |
1993 | Rites of Passage Hedgehogs and Megabytes I.C.A., solo |
1992 | Trophies of Empire Blue Coat Gallery Liverpool, group |
Residencies
1999/2000 | Artist in residence, The Horniman Museum, London |
1999 | Conference on Women and Printmaking, Madrid for British Council |
1998 | Artist in residence, 198 Gallery, London |
1994/5 | Adviser for the Johannesburg Biennial for British Council |
1994 | Artists exchange/residence, San Pablo, Brazil for British Council |
1994 | Artist in residence, Galley X Theresa, Mexico City |
1993 | The Women's Caucus, Seattle, USA for Art Council of England |
1992 | Manifest in Ghana for the Arts Council England |
1991 | The Women's Caucus, Washington, D.C., USA |
1984 | Lambeth /Moscow / Leningrad twinning Lambeth Arts Council London |
1969-1971 | Scholarship to San Francisco Art Institute |
Committees & Organisations
1997-2004 | London Arts Board Combine Arts advisory panel |
1995-1999 | The Arts Council of England Combine Arts advisory panel |
1992-1995 | The Arts Council of England advisory panel on Visual Art |
1983-1990 | Executive Committee Member, Lambeth Arts Council |
1985-1987 | Co-founder/ Director Secretary - Brixton Artists’ Collective |
1982-1992 | The Arts Council of Great Britain Arts Projects Committee A.C.G. |
Others include: Seminar on Art & Design Education in a Multi-Cultural Society—University of London; Executive Committee Member Working Studio — Small Mansion, Arts Centre
Media
1985—Present: Rita contributes and appears in television, film and video productions. As a panelist, she has contributed on the topics of art and contemporary style and has also contributed to a variety of publications and articles, including Open Space on BBC1, Taking Art Apart for British Art Week, Central Weekend—Mid Day, Network Ordinary People, a six part documentary featuring 15 women for Channel 4, ‘Start the Week’ on BBC Radio 4. She participated and was a consultant for the Open University on cultural diversity, as it pertains to women in the arts for the Women’s Studies Program.
Related Resources
- GHOST OF A CHANCE
- PORTENTIAL
- INIVA: TIME MACHINE
- James Putnam: Archive
- INIVA: Rita Keegan
- Ten.8. “Critical Decade: Black British Photography in the 80s
- Autograph: September 1997
- LOVEBITES: Hands — Rita Keegan
- 198 Gallery: Family Histories — Rita Keegan
- Third Text, Janice Cheddie, ‘Rita Keegan: Documents of Memory’, n45, Winter 1998-99
- Bluecoat Publications: TROPHY OF EMPIRE
- Wikipedia: Rita Keegan