
Emmanuel Taku Ghana, b. 1986
78 1/2 x 78 3/8 x 1 5/8 in
A nod to Malick Sidibé, the artist combines his focus on portraiture with a longstanding passion for textiles and patterns, passed on to him by his mother. For the artist, adding layers of abstraction to his portraits is a way to reclaim dominant narratives about black bodies and to reject their objectification. By removing his subject’s eyes, Taku lends his subjects a super natural status, turning them into demi-gods and mythical heroes. His practice thereby positions black people as worthy of awe and reverence, constituting an important voice in the recent rise of Black portraiture in contemporary art.