Pogus Caesar

Pogus Caesar was born in St Kitts, West Indies, and grew up in Birmingham, UK. A self-taught artist, he originally concentrated his early artistic talent on painting. Influenced by the pointil- list paintings of the French Impressionist George-Pierre Seurat, Pogus developed his own technique using a simple fountain pen and ink. Composing his paintings with thousands of tiny dots, this minutely detailed use of the pen meant that even the smaller works would take several months to complete. Pogus would then sell his work through a stall that was part of the Bullring market.
In the 1980s Pogus became director of the West Midlands Ethnic Minority Arts Service, an organisation that promoted multicultural arts regionally and nationally. He was also the first Chairman of Birmingham International Film & Television Festival. For the Arts Council of Great Britain he has curated and contributed to major shows by black British artists including Into the Open (1984) and Caribbean Expressions in Britain (1986).
In the late 1980s Pogus started working in television - originally as a journalist on Channel 4’s Black on Black (1985), then as producer and director of entertainment, sport and multi cultural programmes for Central Television, Carlton Television and the BBC. Pogus’ productions at Central Television included I’m Black in Britain (1995), at Carlton Television – Respect (1995), and Drumbeat (1999), and at the BBC – A-Force (1997). In 1993 he formed a production company, Windrush Productions, whose productions include the award winning multi-cultural series Xpress (1995), and independent films such as Forward
Backward – Backward Never (2002), Francesca’s Key (2007), The Diver (2009) and Aaliyah Live in Amsterdam (2010).
As a photographer and artist Pogus has worked in the UK and many other countries including Spain, India, South America, Sweden, South Africa, Albania and Jamaica documenting the lives of diverse communities. He has also photographed artists, musicians, poets and politicians such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Julie Christie and Paul Robeson Jr. His works are in private and public collections such as the City Gallery,Leicester; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield; Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
In 2004 Pogus established the internet based OOM Gallery which houses his extensive photographic archives. OOM Gallery collaborates with the private, public and voluntary sector by developing and producing a diverse range of multimedia projects.
In 2010 his first book Muzik Kinda Sweet was published. He was also given the Westmore Ezekiel Award by the Birmingham Black International Film Festival for his contribution to British television. His second book Sparkbrook Pride was published in 2011.