Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti

Arts & Photography

Trevor Schoonmaker

History & Criticism

New Museum of Contemporary Art

Crowned the king of Afrobeat and dubbed the Black President, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was a master performer, composer and voice of the oppressed. The Nigerian musician and activist invented an infectious new musical genre called Afrobeat, combining American funk and jazz with traditional Yoruba and highlife music to end up with a sound that doubled as a weapon for justice. Troubled by the state of Nigerian society, he assembled and built his Kalakuta Republic and created his own political party, actions which saw him arrested, imprisoned and beaten by the police and military--but Fela was so influential in Nigerian cultural and political life that even they flocked to his funeral to pay respect to their fallen hero. This book features a diverse range of artists who continue to be inspired by Fela's artistic genius and dedication to justice and equality: from visual practitioners like Sanford Biggers, Barkley L. Hendricks, Alfredo Jaar, Wangechi Mutu, Odili Odita, Olu Oguibe, Senam Okudzeto, Yinka Shonibare, Kara Walker and Fred Wilson to musicians, rappers and DJs. Accompanying essays consider Fela's influence on his musical contemporaries and on an international array of visual artists, Fela as African Blaxploitation hero, and Fela's music in the context of the Nigerian political situation and contemporary activist art. Also included are an updated version of a seminal 1980s article on Fela, a fiction-driven story that reconstructs the last six months of Fela's life, and a poem that deals with Fela's influence on the poet's conception of Africa. Edited by Trevor Schoonmaker.~Essays by Trevor Schoonmaker, Yomi Durotoye, Vivien Goldman, Olu Oguibe, Moyo Okediji and Michael E. Veal. ~Creative writing by Biyi Bandele and Sharon Strange. Paperback, 10.5 x 10.5 in./192 pgs / 64 color 40 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20046

This richly illustrated full-color catalog accompanies the first major solo museum exhibition and most comprehensive survey of the artist Wangechi Mutu's work, on view at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University from March 21, 2013, through July 21, 2013, before traveling to the Brooklyn Museum. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1972, and now based in Brooklyn, Mutu renders the complex global sensibility of the early twenty-first century through a distinctly hybrid aesthetic. She combines found materials and magazine cutouts with sculpture and painted imagery, sampling from sources and phenomena as diverse as African traditions, international politics, the fashion industry, and science fiction. In her work, Mutu marries poetic symbolism with sociopolitical critique to explore issues of gender, race, war, colonialism, and, particularly, the exoticization of the black female body.
The many images included in Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey highlight the most important and iconic works that Mutu has created since the mid-1990s, as well as portray new collages, drawings, videos, and site-specific installations. The catalog also offers an intimate look into her sketchbooks and includes an interview with the artist conducted by the exhibition's curator, Trevor Schoonmaker. Essays by Schoonmaker, the art historian Kristine Stiles, and the critic, musician, and producer Greg Tate are paired with an illustrated chronology of Mutu's work.
Publication of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey

Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Fresh Paint showcases international artists whose approach to painting is particularly fresh and relevant within a contemporary art context. This publication aims to present a highly selective group of artists whose approach, style, or subject matter is as contemporary as any photography, video, or large-scale installation. It also features work that ultimately questions the means and media of painting, challenging the viewer to consider which factors contribute to making a painting fresh and contemporary today. The works range from highly conceptual to more formally oriented, and also touch upon the question of when a painting ceases (or starts) to be a painting. Although these artists are technically proficient at what they do, the significance of their work extends far beyond an ability to paint a pretty picture. Featuring the work of Javier Barilaro, Sverre Bjertnes, Markus Brendmoe, Kudzanai Chiurai, Patricia Claro, Katharina Grosse, Crispin Gurholt, Barkley L. Hendricks, Carlos Huffmann, Steinar Jakcobsen, Brad Kahlhamer, Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, Wangechi Mutu, Elizabeth Peyton, Cristiano Pintaldi, Martin & Sicilia, Thaddeus Strode and Kehinde Wiley. 

Fresh Paint

Paco Barragán

Selene Wendt

Tommy Olsson

Michele Robecchi

Charta

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Books by Trevor Schoonmaker