Jamal Edwards for Acton Unframed, 2019-21

Self Belief is a portrait of Jamal Edwards MBE by Matt Small, a wall sculpture commissioned and produced by JG Contemporary as part of Acton Unframed, our public art programme for West London. It was delivered with West London Art Factory and Kal Di Paola, and funded by Ealing Council, the Greater London Authority, and Acton residents through a crowdfunding campaign. It was a collaboration with Jamal from the start, and the project meant a great deal to him. It celebrates the young man from Acton whose SBTV channel grew from a local YouTube channel into a launchpad for a generation of British music.

Matt is known for portraits made from found and discarded materials, and this one was built by the community as much as for it. Many Acton residents donated materials that went into the portrait. Pupils from Derwentwater Primary School took part in a workshop, and the tins collected afterwards were used in the finished work. Further materials came from the Stirling Road recycling centre. The sculpture was fabricated at Bollo Brook Youth Centre. The words “Self Belief” across the top were spray-painted by Jamal himself, so his own hand is part of the work.

The sculpture was finished well before it had a home. While we searched for the right wall, it went on show at the JG Contemporary gallery in Acton. Finding the site took time, because it had to be somewhere that meant something. In the end Acton residents chose it: the wall on Acton High Street where Jamal filmed some of his earliest SBTV videos. JG Contemporary led the project from start to finish. We commissioned the artist, ran the community workshop, secured the wall, and managed fabrication and installation. Self Belief was installed in November 2021.

After Jamal’s death in February 2022, the portrait became a memorial, a place where people from Acton and beyond came to remember him.

Artist: Matt Small
Produced by: Acton Unframed (JG Contemporary, West London Art Factory and Kal Di Paola)
Funded by: Ealing Council, Greater London Authority, local residents (crowdfunding)
Community: Derwentwater Primary School, Bollo Brook Youth Centre
Installed: November 2021, Acton High Street