Revisit a conversation between artist Tam Joseph and art historian Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton, celebrating the publication of Four Corners Books’ I Know What I See, the first major survey of Tam Joseph’s career.

‘With the wry observations of his concerted, determined and engaging international reach, Joseph is in so many respects the absolute embodiment of diaspora. But perhaps we’d do better to simply describe Joseph as a world citizen, one who is as deeply engaged with history as he is with geography, and formidably engaged with artistic innovation.’
— Eddie Chambers, Introduction to Tam Joseph: I Know What I See, 2023

For over 40 years, Tam Joseph’s work has taken him in many different directions, but it is grounded in a sensibility which revels in the connections between things, as well as the creative possibilities of human perception.

Some of Joseph’s paintings reflect on his own history and the history of injustices faced by African Caribbean people in Britain. Other works draw inspiration from diverse sources including cinema, music, and sport, as well as the natural world and the history of painting itself. Whether his subject is landscape, portrait or history, Joseph employs his deep knowledge of paintings of the past to create work which invites viewers to consider these genres afresh.

Tam Joseph lives and works in London. His work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in many public collections including the Arts Council Collection, Tate and V&A.

Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton is an art historian, focusing on British artists of African and Asian descent. She is based at University of the Arts London’s Decolonising Arts Institute, where her research focuses on collecting, interpretation and display practices in public museums and heritage organisations.

Four Corners Books is an independent publisher and charity, which shared space with Raven Row between 2009 and 2020.