Simon Frederick explores the Stillness and Beauty, of Black Femininity in a Groundbreaking Multi-Screen Art Installation format.

Simon Fredericks, acclaimed artist and filmmaker, unveils his highly anticipated first art installation film, The Unspoken Elegance of Stillness, at art’otel London Hoxton from 3rd – 12th March 2025.

This immersive, multi-screen exhibition, beautifully curated by Sherece Rainford, Founder of Gallery OCA, marks the beginning of Frederick’s year-long residency with art’otel London Hoxton, an ongoing collaboration that will include a series of exhibitions, talks, and events designed to engage audiences and foster deeper dialogue between art, culture, and community.

Inspired by the words of Dostoevsky – “Beauty will save the world” – Frederick’s latest work is a poetic meditation on tranquillity, resilience, and the quiet power of Black femininity. Moving beyond the constraints of traditional Western beauty standards, the exhibition celebrates the grace, dignity, and presence of Black women, expressed through an evocative interplay of light, shadow, and stillness.

A Cinematic Portrait of Stillness
The Unspoken Elegance of Stillness is both an artistic and curatorial statement—one that redefines the boundaries between fine art, film, and immersive storytelling. Through a dynamic use of still photography, moving image, Ai, poetry and music, Frederick transforms interior spaces into living, breathing canvases where silhouettes shift imperceptibly, light ripples like water, and shadows whisper untold stories. Shot entirely in black and white, the installation captures the richness of texture, movement, and introspection, evoking a visual language that echoes with intellectual depth and poetic resonance.

Each frame is both a portrait and a performance, where silence becomes a language of its own. Slow, deliberate movements—an outstretched hand, the flicker of fabric, the closing of eyes—invite the audience to witness stillness not as absence, but as presence. The film unfolds in three distinct movements, each exploring the interior as a physical, emotional, and historical landscape: Beginning: Echoes of the Interior; Middle: The Interior as Landscape; and the End: Reverberations in Stillness.

“With The Unspoken Elegance of Stillness, I wanted to create a space where silence speaks, where presence is power, and where Black femininity is seen in its fullest, most unguarded beauty. This work is a meditation on stillness—not as absence, but as a force of resilience, grace, and self-possession. In a world that often demands movement, this installation invites us to pause, to listen, and to see beyond the surface. It’s an honour to debut this work at Art’otel Hoxton, a space that embraces the intersection of art and experience, and to collaborate with Sherece Rainford and Gallery OCA in bringing this vision to life.” Frederick says.