Fahamu Pecou: ALL DAT GLITTERS AIN’T GOALS

All Dat Glitters Ain’t Goals
presented by Salvador Castillo

Closing Reception part of FRAME
Big Medium @ Canopy
May 18, noon – midnight
reception 7-10pm

912Congress
Fahamu Pecou: Artist talk Apr 20 @ 1pm
part of Fusebox Festival 2013/Hybrid Arts Summit

Big Medium Gallery
April 20 – May 4, 2013
Opening reception Apr 20 6-10pm
Musical performance @ 7pm

Gallery Hours: Saturdays 12-4pm & by appointment.

Salvador Castillo proudly announces “Fahamu Pecou: Artist Talk” and
“All Dat Glitters Ain’t Goals” an exhibition of paintings and music videos.

This exhibit utilizes Pecou’s familiar trope of self-portraiture to challenge and dissect society’s representation of black masculinity in popular culture today. The title is an obvious play on the quote from William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, “All that glitters is not gold.” As with all of Pecou’s exhibitions, the artist’s masterful word play is the root of his exhibition.

Extrapolating from a broad range of popular culture resources, Pecou sifts through rap music, hiphop culture, and mass media to provide a visual reference that exaggerates and calls into question the persona and “hype” that serves as a bar upon which an entire segment of today’s society measures their worth. The “thug life” lifestyle encompassing exotic cars, “iced out” jewelry, sexy women, drugs and countless non-culpable accounts of criminal exploits litter the lyrics of popular songs and music videos, ultimately infecting the overall perception of “success” in contemporary black male culture. These popular ideals and images contrast starkly with the realities of most black youths, but often become the goals that many aspire to. Some would argue that this display of decadence and disregard is merely entertainment, however to many on the outside looking in, there is no suspension of disbelief. The reading and performance of black masculinity is often greatly dependent upon the reflected images of black men in the media–where hip-hop culture becomes the demonstrative construct.

Punctuating each painting in All Dat Glitters Ain’t Goals is an original rap song written and performed by Fahamu Pecou. By presenting a familiar and easy entry point via music, the music video component allows an unprecedented immersive experience into Pecou’s work. The music assists in the cyphering of the content of the work allowing the artist to conceptually transport the viewer to and through the meaning of All Dat Glitters Ain’t Goals.

To hear a sample track:
fahamupecouistheshit.bandcamp.com

Fahamu Pecou is an American painter based in Atlanta, Georgia. His work comments on contemporary and hip-hop culture while simultaneously subverting it to include his ideas on fine art. His most recent work addresses concerns around representations of black masculinity and how these images come to de- fine black men across generations and geographical boundaries.

Since 2005, Fahamu has been featured in several solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad, including solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, Art Basel (Basel, Switzerland), and Cape Town, South Africa. His work is featured in noted private and public collections including; Nasher Museum at Duke University, Paul R. Jones Collection, Clark Atlanta University Art Collection, and Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia. His work has been reviewed and featured in numerous publications including; Art In America, Harper’s Magazine, NY Arts Magazine, Mass Appeal Magazine, The Fader Magazine, Atlanta Peach Magazine, ARC Magazine, and on the cover of Artlies Magazine.

This project is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Economic Growth & Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future.  Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.

More support provided by Fusebox Festival, Art Alliance Austin, Big Medium, Pump Project and Lyons Weir Gallery.

“All Dat Glitters Ain’t Goals” will be on view at Big Medium Gallery through May 4, 2013.
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