Fowokan
Fowokan | |
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National Portrait Gallery |
George "Fowokan" Kelly (born 1 April 1943) in the early 1970s).
Background and career
Born as Kenness George Kelly in Kingston, Jamaica, he migrated to Britain in 1957 and lived in Brixton, South London.[2]
He decided to become an artist while on a visit to
The philosophical aspect of his oeuvre came with his travels through various parts of Africa, exploring the spiritual side of his ancestral home. He believes the intuitive/spiritual aspect of reality that still abounds in Africa was his art school and university. He has also written essays that have been published in books and magazines.[2]
In 2011 Fowokan featured in "Better than Good", an arts education initiative to highlight the achievements of Black artists in Britain.
The biography Becoming Fowokan: The Life and Works of Fowokan George Kelly, by Margaret Andrews, was published in January 2022.[7]
Concepts
Kelly sees African art not as art in the western sense but as creations associated with religion, magic and ritual. The encounter between the African and the European has brought about deep-rooted spiritual and mental conflicts at the core of the African, along with the belief that the African is nothing more than "the reflection of a primitive and barbarous mentality". Kelly believes that art has an important role to play in the struggle to define and redefine a contemporary African world-view. In today's African artists' work, he argues, we must see the eyes and hands of the contemporary artist, looking anew, through the prism of an African aesthetic, speaking in a new world with the voices of the ancestors, voices for so long silenced; in doing so, their art will offer new generations the opportunity to look again with fresh eyes, to see themselves in new ways.
The primary motifs of Kelly's practice are naturalistic portraits, such as his bust of
Collections
Examples of Kelly's work are held in many public and private art collections, including that of the
Selected exhibitions
- 1982: Brixton Art Gallery inaugural exhibition
- 1983: Creation for Liberation: Open Exhibition Contemporary Black Art in Britain, St Matthews Meeting, London[13]
- 1984: Art in Exile, The Black Art Gallery, London
- 1985: From Generation to Generation, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham. Installation by the OBAALA Arts Cooperative including David A. Bailey, Sonia Boyce, Shakka Dedi, George Kelly, and Keith Piper.[14]
- 1985: New Horizons, Royal Festival Hall, London
- 1987: Three Dimensions, The Black Art Gallery, London[15]
- 1989: Three Brixton Artists: 198 Gallery, London[16]
- 1990: Havana Biennial, Cuba
- 1991: The Royal Academy of Art Summer Show, London
- 1994: Beyond My Grandfather’s Dreams, Jamaican High Commission, London[17]
- 1997: Transforming the Crown, Studio Museum Harlem, New York
- 1999–2005: The Royal Academyof Art Summer Show, London, 1991
- 1999–2006: Society of Portrait Sculptors exhibition at The Gallery Cork Street, London
- 2007: Inhuman Traffic: The Business of the Slave Trade, The British Museum, London
- 2008: Hawkins & Co, Contemporary Urban Centre, Liverpool[18]
- 2011: From Bronze to Gold Exhibition, Rich Mix, London[19]
- 2015: No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990, Guildhall Art Gallery, London
References
- ^ "George ‘Fowokan’ Kelly, Icon of the Black British arts movement", Sam Kelly website. February 1998
- ^ a b c Margaret T. Andrews, "Fowokan", in Alison Donnell (ed.), Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture, Routledge, 2001, p. 117.
- ^ "FOWOKAN: His Spiritual and Political Journey", Alexandra Galleries, 19 March 2011.
- ^ a b "Clash Of Cultures (1/2)", Alex Sampson's Ravensbourne Blog, 13 October 2015.
- ^ Annemari de Silva, "Exhibition Review: No Colour Bar", SOAS Spirit, 16 November 2015.
- ^ Lola Okolosie, "We are here because you were there: a retrospective of black British art", New Humanist, 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Fowokan". Dr Margaret Andrews. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal". Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
- ^ Sandra Gibson, "Hawkins & Co" (review) Archived 11 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Nerve, 15 April 2008.
- ^ "Curriculum Vitae", Fowokan website.
- ^ Holland Cotter, "Art Review: This Realm of Newcomers, This England", The New York Times, 24 October 1997.
- ^ Natalie Bennett, "Exhibition Review – Inhuman Traffic: the Business of the Slave Trade", My London Your London, 7 October 2007.
- ISBN 978-1-899846-06-1.
- ^ "Kelly, George Fowokan", aavad.com.
- ISBN 9780861971367. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Three Brixton Artists: Pearl Alcock, George Kelly, Michael Ross. London: 198 Gallery. 1989.
- ^ "George Kelly-Fowokan, Sculptor", David Michael.
- ^ "Hawkins & Co". Art in Liverpool. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "From Bronze to Gold Exhibition", ItzCaribbean, 1 October 2011.
Further reading
- Margaret Andrews, Becoming Fowokan:The Life and Works of Fowokan George Kelly (January 2022).
External links
- Fowokan official website
- "Artist of the Diaspora - Fowokan George Kelly", Black History Month.
- Ebun Culwin, Portraits of Fowokan in "Transforming Conflict" exhibition.
- Belinda Otas, "FOWOKAN: A Spiritual & Political Journey", 13 May 2011.