GalleryFowokan: Folk sculptor whose roots run deep
Critical observers say the works of Fowokan, born 1943 in Kingston, Jamaica, herald a new found interest in the tradition of sculpture of the African Diaspora based on the human figure. (Fowokan, recently elected to the prestigious 60-year old body, joins Jamaican born sculptor Ronald Moody 1900-1984, as an honoree of the society). Fowkan's works such as Carriacou Woman challenge the viewer, Blacks as well as whites, to answer some fundamental questions. Is there a role for art in the traditional sense in our lives today? Is there a need for magic and rituals that mediate between what we have lost, and what we have become? Is the purpose of contemporary art to intercede between mankind and the forces of civilisation? But don't be misled. Fowokan is no ivory tower artist alienated from the Black British experience. He revealed his share of hard times in a recent TV series on West Indians who came to England in the 1950s. "We lived alongside many other families crowded in a very unpleasant place in Geneva Road, Brixton," he reportedly told the South London News. "It had four storeys, a toilet in the basement and no bath in the house," he recalls. He worked the movie projector at the old Granada Cinema in Brixton after leaving school, and was a postal worker and a musician before taking up sculpture. Modest about his artistic accomplishments, Fowokan says: "Mainly self-taught, I have been a practising sculptor since 1980. I have also been involved with various projects taking African Art into schools around the UK". "In 1987 the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham commissioned me to produce two pieces for the Marcus Garvey Centenary celebrations. One of these pieces is sited in Marcus Garvey park, the other on the house where he lived". "The African Peoples Historical Foundation commissioned me in 1988 to produce a piece which now adorns the front of their building in Brixton. My pieces are in collections such as The W. E. B Du Bois Institute at Harvard University, The University of The West Indies, as well as private collections across the world." Nearing 70, Fowokan shows no sign of curbing his ambition or his dedication to encouraging the next generation of Black artists. He keeps a watchful eye on the progress of the Black Cultural Archives and is a founding member of the Black Heritage Development Task Group in Brixton, his home place.
For a detailed profile of the artist, see "Fowokan ÷ Artist of the Diaspora" in the Gallery section of the Internet magazine www.chronicleworld.org Fowokan George Kelly may be contacted by E-mail: fowokan@hotmail.com
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