Zak Ové, Virulent Strain, 2023

Zak Ové (b. 1966, London, UK, lives and works in Gran Canaria) is a British/Caribbean artist with a multi-disciplinary practice across sculpture, film and photography. His work is informed in part through the history and lore carried through the African diaspora to the Caribbean, Britain and beyond with particular focus on traditions of masking and masquerade. Ové’s artworks explore the interplay between old world mythology and what he posits as ‘potential futures’, a space where he reinterprets existence into the fantastical. Ové uses modern materials, a sound clash of Caribbean and African colour and the reinvention and appropriation of everyday objects to bring his characters and scenarios to life. His work is a celebration of the power of play, the spirit of imagination in the blurring of edges between reality and possibility, flesh and spirit. In this way, Ové seeks to re-write a history for the future through heralding the past in a new light. Ové’s works feature in a number of museum collections throughout the world, as well as in private foundations and collections such as (Where it is the first work acquired by a Caribbean artist); Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA; Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida, USA; Modern Forms, London, UK; David Roberts Art Foundation, London, UK; Jameel Collection, Saudi Arabia; Facebook Corporate Collection, London, UK; 21 C Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Beth De Woody Collection, New York, USA; Walid Kamhawi Collection, Dubai, UAE; Frédéric de Goldschmidt, Brussels, Belgium; Levett Collection, London, UK; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, Ohio, Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, UAE.

About the work:

"This work is made from cast graphite, the face was hand carved then cast and finished in 22 carot Gold leaf, the 21 fists are cast from my hands, the bracelets are cast from my fathers bracelet. The mask was remade from a Kifwebe Luba mask from the Congo. This particular mask reappears in my work frequently.

In my practice one of my threads of investigation is African cultural resistance and the struggle by Caribbean and diasporic people to uphold their own secular culture, guided by African identity. Caribbean Carnival is a symbolic commentary and celebration of survival, freedom and therefore victory over the slave system imposed by the white planter class. Resistance art is art used as a way of showing opposition to power holders and also a way of retaining histories otherwise overlooked.

I was interested in how this spirit of resistance is actually infectious, in our pursuit of freedoms and visibilty. As the children of Horace Ové, we raised our fists at his cry of ‘Power to the People’, In making this work I cast my own fists and also cast copies of my fathers Coco Pod Bracelet, that he wore in acknowledgement of his Caribbean - African identity, across a lifetime. Artist and film maker, Sir Horace Shango Ové died last month, this work in many ways is my tribute to his practice and his spirited exploration of Black activism through the arts." - Zak Ové

Curated by June Sarpong | Saatchi Gallery: Filling in the Pieces in Black

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