At NOME Gallery in Berlin is currently on show UNCENSORED, a solo exhibition by Berlin-based artist and archivist Danielle Brathwaite Shirley, marking her first collaboration with the gallery. Known for her immersive and interactive installations blending animation, painting, sound, and performance, Brathwaite-Shirley explores identity and misrepresentation through discomfort and confrontation.
UNCENSORED premiers a new series of works capturing honest, unfiltered emotions we are often too afraid to reveal. Fighting back against an ever increasing amount of censorship, UNCENSORED intention is to create a space that interacts with the conversations that we have buried below public consumption. Viewers are confronted with their own beliefs, prompting them to question not just what they think, but why. Each new work provokes uncomfortable dialogues that we would like to happen privately, painting with the audience’s own awkwardness, fear, anger and desire.
Brathwaite-Shirley’s practice acts as a diary, creating spaces that blur the boundaries between reality, simulation, and the subconscious. Through the use of horror and uncanny figures, she draws viewers into experiences and emotions they would typically avoid. Her hauntingly evocative characters personify antagonistic emotions and malicious behaviours, reflecting a personal confrontation with these feelings. At the same time, her approach aims to provoke thought and self-reflection rather than reassurance, fostering empathy through shared discomfort self reflection.
Brathwaite-Shirley’s universe, filled with demons, villains, and gore, feels especially relevant in today’s climate. Her work goes beyond addressing hostility toward the unfamiliar; it also delves into the complex and often contradictory nuances within each person’s values and beliefs. By representing the Black Trans experience and by tackling transphobia and racism, her work serves as both a mirror and a challenge to societal norms. Brathwaite-Shirley’s practice fosters empathy and self-awareness by creating a space for these internal conversations, pushing audiences to reconsider their perspectives on identity and marginalization.
(from the press release)
UNCENSORED. Danielle Brathwaite Shirley, NOME Gallery, Until April 12, 2025
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley (b. London, 1995) received a BA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London in 2019. Their work has been presented in solo exhibitions and performances at institutions such as Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; LAS, Berlin; Studio Voltaire, London; Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Genève; Villa Arson, Nice; Fact, Liverpool; David Kordansky, Los Angeles; Project Arts Centre, Ireland. Brathwaite-Shirley has additionally participated in group exhibitions at institutions such as Feral file X MoMA; MMCA, Seoul; Centre Pompidou Metz; Julia Stoschek Foundation, Berlin; Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich; Les Urbaines, Lausanne; and Barbican Centre, London.
images: (cover 1) Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley in her studio, 2023. Photo by Laura Schaeffer. Courtesy of the artist. (2-3) Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley – WE CAN’T LET THEM DO THIS AGAIN, 2025. Ink and acrylic paint on paper 237 x 150 cm. Photo © Marjorie Brunet Plaza. Courtesy of the artist and NOME.
