ART CITIES:Los Angeles-Zak Ové

Zak Ové is a London based multi-disciplinary artist working in film, sculpture and photography to reclaim old world mythologies in new world source materials and technologies. His fascination with the interplay between antiquity and the future is inspired by masking rituals and traditions of Trinidadian carnival that is itself rooted in a struggle for emancipation.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: LACMA Archive

Zak Ové’s work is in celebration of the power of play, the juxtaposition of parody and sacred ritual and the blurring of edges between reality and fantasy, flesh and spirit. His use of non-traditional materials: copper, wood, Victoriana and other found materials, situates the work in the metropoles of Europe and the Americas where they merge and mutate into endless possibilities and unexpected identities. His 40-piece sculptural installation, “The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness” brought together in conversation with 12 works by Auguste Rodin. The installation encapsulates the complex history of racial objectification and the evolution of black subjectivity. The title’s references Ben Jonson’s 1605 play, “The Masque of Blackness” (1605) and Ralph Ellison’s novel, “Invisible Man” (1952) mark two milestones in black history: the first stage production to utilize blackface makeup, and the first novel by an African American to win the National Book Award. In addition to literary references, the artist draws inspiration from Caribbean Carnival, a festival that originated from the Mardi Gras celebrations of the region’s French colonists, and Canboulay, a parallel celebration in which enslaved people expressed themselves through music and costume and paid homage to their African traditions. The installation’s graphite figures stand tall and dignified to represent the strength and resilience of the African diaspora. Originally conceived for the grounds of the historic Somerset House in London, “The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness” features a group of identical, 2 meter-tall reproductions of an African figure that the artist received as a gift from his father in his early childhood. Ové’s figures, fabricated from resin and graphite, hold their hands up at shoulder level in an act of quiet strength and resilience, and are spaced evenly in rows to ironically recall the formation of either a group soldiers or political dissidents.

Image: Zak Ové, The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness, 2016, Installation view, Yorkshire Sculpture Park-Yorkshire, UK, 2016–17, © Zak Ové, Courtesy Modern Forms, Vigo gallery, the artist and YSP, Photo: Jonty Wilde

Info: Curator:  Jennifer Cernada, Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, Duration: 27/7-3/11/19, Days & Hours: Mon-Tue & Thu 11:00-17:00, Fri 11:00-20:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-19:00, www.lacma.org