George 'Fowokan' Kelly
Encyclopedia
George 'Fowokan' Kelly (born Kenness George Kelly 1 April 1943 in Kingston
, Jamaica
) is a visual artist who lives in Britain
and exhibits using the name 'Fowokan' (a Yoruba
word meaning: 'one who creates with the hand'). Fowokan's work is full of the ambivalence he sees in the deep-rooted spiritual and mental conflict between the African and the European. His work is rooted in the traditions of pre-colonial Africa and ancient Egypt
rather than the Greco-Roman art of the west. Coming to the visual arts late in life he deliberately chose not to be trained in western art institutions as he felt that these institutions could not teach him what he wanted to know. They being too deeply entrenched in their own traditions with little or no understanding or interest in the things that interested him most - the ideas that lie behind the art and culture of Africa
.
at Harvard University
, Unilever
and the National Portrait Gallery London. In the mid-1980s, the artist exhibited in the ground-breaking 'Creation for Liberation' series of group exhibitions which was organised in Brixton
, South London by Linton Kwesi Johnson
and his colleagues in the Race Today Collective. Kelly's work has also been shown at the Studio Museum, New York and the British Museum
, London.
He decided to become an artist while on a visit to Benin
Nigeria, in the mid 1970s. he had travelled to Nigeria
as a musician where he experienced some kind of spiritual transformation or enlightenment. He returned to London
determined to acquire knowledge of the technique of sculpture
, which he was able to find in books and through trial and error.
The philosophical aspect of his oeuvre came through a deep intuition and travels through various parts of Africa
, exploring the spiritual side of his ancestral/ spiritual home; this was his art school and university. The intuitive/spiritual aspect of reality he believes still abounds in Africa. He sees African art not art in the western sense but creations associated with religion, magic and ritual.
The encounter between the African and the Europe
an 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.” He believes that this point of view cannot be left unchallenged, and 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, not at, but 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.
. But, the artist also introduces forms that allude to the artist's fascination with Africa
and the African Diaspora
, such as 'The Lost Queen of Pernambuco
' which, according to 'Nerve' magazine 'has a beauty that overwhelms'.
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
) is a visual artist who lives in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and exhibits using the name 'Fowokan' (a Yoruba
Yoruba language
Yorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
word meaning: 'one who creates with the hand'). Fowokan's work is full of the ambivalence he sees in the deep-rooted spiritual and mental conflict between the African and the European. His work is rooted in the traditions of pre-colonial Africa and ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
rather than the Greco-Roman art of the west. Coming to the visual arts late in life he deliberately chose not to be trained in western art institutions as he felt that these institutions could not teach him what he wanted to know. They being too deeply entrenched in their own traditions with little or no understanding or interest in the things that interested him most - the ideas that lie behind the art and culture of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Collections
Examples of Kelly's work are held in many public and private art collections, including that of the W. E. B. Du Bois InstituteW. E. B. Du Bois Institute
The W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research is located at Harvard University and was established in 1969. It is named after W. E. B. Du Bois who was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
and the National Portrait Gallery London. In the mid-1980s, the artist exhibited in the ground-breaking 'Creation for Liberation' series of group exhibitions which was organised in Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, South London by Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...
and his colleagues in the Race Today Collective. Kelly's work has also been shown at the Studio Museum, New York and the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, London.
Education
Fowokan is a largely self-taught artist, who has been practising sculpture since 1980.He decided to become an artist while on a visit to Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
Nigeria, in the mid 1970s. he had travelled to Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
as a musician where he experienced some kind of spiritual transformation or enlightenment. He returned to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
determined to acquire knowledge of the technique of sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, which he was able to find in books and through trial and error.
The philosophical aspect of his oeuvre came through a deep intuition and travels through various parts of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, exploring the spiritual side of his ancestral/ spiritual home; this was his art school and university. The intuitive/spiritual aspect of reality he believes still abounds in Africa. He sees African art not art in the western sense but creations associated with religion, magic and ritual.
The encounter between the African and the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an 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.” He believes that this point of view cannot be left unchallenged, and 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, not at, but 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.
Concepts
The primary motifs of Kelly's practice are naturalistic portraits, such as his bust of Mary SeacoleMary Seacole
Mary Jane Seacole , sometimes known as Mother Seacole or Mary Grant, was a Jamaican nurse best known for her involvement in the Crimean War. She set up and operated boarding houses in Panama and the Crimea to assist in her desire to treat the sick...
. But, the artist also introduces forms that allude to the artist's fascination with Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the African Diaspora
African diaspora
The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world—predominantly to the Americas also to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe...
, such as 'The Lost Queen of Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
' which, according to 'Nerve' magazine 'has a beauty that overwhelms'.
Exhibitions
- Hawkins & Co LIverpool March–May 2008.
- Inhuman Traffic: The Business of the Slave Trade, The British Museum London May 2007- May 2008
- Society of Portrait Sculptors exhibition at The Gallery Cork St London 1999-2006
- The Royal AcademyRoyal AcademyThe Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
of Art Summer Show London 1991, 1999–2005 - Transforming the Crown at the Studio Museum in HarlemStudio Museum in HarlemThe Studio Museum in Harlem is an American contemporary art museum in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, New York. It was founded in 1968 as the first such museum in the U.S. devoted to the art of African-Americans, specializing in 19th and 20th century work as well work of artists of...
, New York 1997 - Beyond My Grandfather’s Dreams at the Jamaican High Commission London 1994
- The 1990 Cuban Biennial
- The Black Art Gallery 1987
- Art in Exile at the Black Art Gallery 1984 New Horizons Festival Hall 1985 Three Dimensions
- Creation for Liberation’s inaugural exhibition Brixton 1983
- Brixton Art Gallery inaugural exhibition 1982