About:

Alexis Chabala is a London-based photographer and filmmaker whose work examines how expectation becomes visible in the body. Working across staged and observational portraiture, his images explore how individuals carry, resist, or inhabit roles shaped by social, erotic, cultural, and political forces.

Across long-term series — including Better In Tune, Public Bodies, Still I Rise, The Hawthorne Effect, and Don't Push Me — Chabala investigates the tension between composure and pressure. Rather than seeking spectacle or collapse, his portraits focus on the subtle labour required to maintain presence, dignity, or control under scrutiny. His work has been exhibited internationally at Somerset House, MAC Birmingham, Puebla, and Djanogly Gallery.

Read the full artistic practice description

CV

Solo Exhibitions

2026 – The Beat Beneath Us, Djanogly Gallery | Angear Visitor Centre, Nottingham, UK

2025 – Greater In Tune IOW, Quay Arts, Newport (Isle of Wight), UK

2023 – Cause I Know I’m A Meet You At The Cross Road, Swiss Cottage Gallery, London, UK

2023 – Hey Sista, Go Sista, Soul Sista, Casa de la Cultura Pedro Ángel Palou, Puebla, Mexico

2022 – The Hawthorne Effect, Willesden Art Gallery, London, UK

2020 – The Influence Project, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, UK

2018 – The Influence Project, Somerset House, London, UK

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024 – George Clinton – Cloaked in a Cloud, Disguised in the Sky, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, USA

2024 – Me, Myself and I – NAE Open 24, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK

2021 – Serena #1251, Fringe Arts, Bath, UK

2021 – Serena #1022 & #1251, RBSA Photography Prize, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham, UK

Education

1997 – Photography Certificate, École de Photographie de la Ville de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

1995 – Fine Art, École du Woelvendael, Uccle, Brussels, Belgium

Selected Press/interview:

Hopper Prize — Interview with Alexis Chabala
https://hopperprize.org/alexis-chabala-interview/

Voice Online — Black Pioneers Explored
https://www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment/arts-culture/2018/05/05/black-pioneers-explored-in-the-influence-project

Creative Boom — Portraits of R&B, Funk and Hip Hop Pioneers
https://www.creativeboom.com/news/the-influence-project-new-exhibition-premieres-portraits-of-rb-funk-and-hip-hop-pioneers

Metal Magazine — Interview with Alexis Chabala
https://metalmagazine.eu/bi/post/interview/alexis-chabala-portraying-black-identity-music-and-voices

Hunger TV — Capturing Characters and Icons
https://www.hungertv.com/feature/capturing-characters-and-icons-with-alexis-chabala/