The Upsetters, King and Queen , 2013
110 x 75 in (h x w)
Please note: Image dimensions have been modified for online presentation. Actual dimensions are 88 ½ x 30 x 20 inches. mixed media, Jesonmite cast masks, vintage stereos, turntables and speakers Courtesy of October Gallery

Two large totems rise up in front of the viewer, but rather than being composed of the expected wood or traditional materials, these figures are made of vintage sound system pieces embedded with African masks. The works underscore the centrality of music in the life of Zak Ové (b. London, England, 1966), a multi-media artist born in London with a Trinidadian father, Horace Ové, who was a successful Black filmmaker, whose work deeply influenced his son. Speaking of The Upsetters, King and Queen, the artist describes them as symbolizing “probably the only religious experience for me through my childhood. I am using ‘religious’ in a quasi-way, in a sense of divinity that always inspires and pushes me forward into things. The sound system had galvanized a community it was able to speak to. And whatever came through this interface was a language that spoke about culture, spoke about the past, it spoke about pride.” Committed to the role of the artist in advancing social justice, as his father’s generation did, the artist asks “As the first generation born in Britain, I have to ask myself how do I carry this on?”

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