Trans artist Mr Samo invites you to have a seat at his table for a Feast at The Corner Collective in Southsea

It’s the question that inspired Portsmouth artist Mr Samo’s (Samo White) new exhibition, Feast, which is on now at The Corner Collective in Albert Road, Southsea.

The distinctive style of Samo’s artwork is visible across the city (and beyond) – at Hilsea Lido, The Staggeringly Good Brewery, The Honest Politician pub, and in Bransbury Park, among other locations.

But this new show, sees him trying something a bit different.

His last solo show was in 2021 to showcase his book, I Exist, which sought to address the lack of visibility of trans bodies in art and saw Samo, himself a trans man, working with dozens of transgender people at different stages in their transition.

Feast, however, is a very different beast.

“Last year was a really big year for me,” he says, “and towards the end of the year I was exploring this concept with my partner about what it means to have a seat at someone's table – I'm really fascinated by that power-play dynamic, and what it means to have a seat at the table.

“Then also for me on a personal level, within an amazing community in Southsea, to be a trans person who has always wanted to be seen and have a seat at the table, but now I’m in a place where, actually, I have the ability to invite people to the table – and to invite people to be part of a community and celebration. And what does that look like?

"That's the narrative and the theme behind Feast, and it's always the theme of my work, really - community, celebration, coming together, whether that's painting a mural, doing an exhibition, or running a workshop.”

While Samo says there is an obvious continuation of the work people are familiar with, he’s trying something new.

"The work and how that's transformed, I've taken a massive pivot. It will be very different. I don't want to give too much away before people can see it for themselves.”

The show opened on Thursday night, and Samo says: “The opening was the first time I've done anything interactive – I want people to be taking part, and it’s going back to why I fell in love with art as well, which was from college was doing sculpture and installation.

“It's really playful.

“Because of that it's got all of my heart and all of my passion put into it. It's also symbolic of how I've expanded as an artist as well, and don't want to be associated with just one thing, like street art.”

The exhibition is on now at The Corner Collective until next weekend. For more details, go to thecornercollective.com.

The Bransbury Park mural for Look Up

As part of the city’s inaugural street art festival last autumn, Samo painted a huge mural on the side of the community centre in Bransbury Park in Milton.

When tackling something of that scale, Samo says: “It's not just about painting a mural, it about how can I transform a space?” Even the lights on the walls are incorporated into the design. “I even painted the basketball nets – I wanted everything to be interactive and considered, whether that's on a wall or in a gallery.”

As a trans artist, some ground work had to be laid ahead of him working there.

“I've had conversations with other street artists, and this is perhaps something they haven't had to consider, but because of the nature of the work, because of my own safety sometimes when I'm out painting, we had to do a little bit of community feedback with the residents around there to make sure that they were happy I would be painting that wall. It was a bit like, hang on a second: Do other artists have to do this?

“I wasn't doing anything controversial, but even all of the older people within the community spoke to who use the hub there, they were really nice about it and said it was amazing. It made them feel really joyous.

"We even had one older lady nearly falling off her bike as she rode past because she loved the wall so much! It says ‘You Are Loved’, and that's what it's about – that inclusion reaches far and wide outside of my own community.

“On the Saturday we had a little queer picnic to celebrate finishing the wall and community, and we had over 100 people just come and be in the park.”

Samo the activist

Since starting as an artist, through his ownership of the Play Dead gallery and art studio on Highlands Road to now, activism has always played a strong role in Samo’s work.

"It can't not feed into it,” says Samo, “because that's who I am.”

But relating to Feast, he adds: “The interactive part of it is quite playful with that. That will be fun and interesting, and I think there will be follow-ups and more discussions and potentially more work within that as an activist.

"There are little things I'm doing within the show which I think is a gentle activism. It doesn't have to be so harsh and intense. What I've learnt over the years from my art is that just being me and showing up is often enough. Creating joy and safe spaces for people to show up is activism in its highest form.

"I'm going to get people to inquire about their identity in this show. Who am I? If I wasn't a transgender activist, would I be creating the works that I am creating? There are a lot of eyes on me, and that does come with expectations, and how does that look within a community. The engagement with the installation is going to get people to think about that - thinking about their seat at the table, their role within the community, and sometimes how much pressure that can put on people. But it is in a fun, playful way!

“It's about hearing people's stories and getting people to connect and relate to that.”