Arthur Jafa: A Series of Utterly Improbable, Yet Extraordinary Renditions

Strange exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery of work by the artist and filmmaker Arthur Jaffa.

The works were described as assemblages and were a mix of photographs and films. I think they were about finding a visual identity for black life similar to the main stream musical identity that has been established, but don’t hold me to that. The commentary had a lot of convoluted language which I didn’t understand and I’m not sure I got any of it from the images.

I guess I may not have been the audience it was aimed at and I must admit the whole thing went whooshing over my head. I did like the way the gallery was used to create lovely framing of an old photo of children pledging allegiance to the flag. I was slightly sucked into a video of a couple of arguing but didn’t feel included to give it a lot of time. The photographs by Ming Smith of black cultural figures were interesting but I wanted them to be in focus!

Closes on 10 September 2017

 

 

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