NEW YORK—Fahamu Pecou uses hip hop to dissect the boastful, blinged-out black male stereotypes promoted by some of hip hop’s most popular and successful performers. There are many layers to the Atlanta artist’s approach. Pecou rapped in high school and as a visual artist has adopted a persona—”The Shit”—of a boastful, blinged-out rapper. His self-portraits are meant to be ironic, are titled with and feature word play and in a new exhibit at Lyons Wier Gallery, “All Dat Glitters Ain’t Goals,” incorporate original music in their presentation.
Detail of “Irony.”
According to the gallery, the name of the exhibit is derived from a line in William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”: “all that glitters is not gold.” Each painting in the show includes new music, a rap song written and performed by Pecou, that can be downloaded via a QR code on the wall next to the canvas. An entire album of tracks can be downloaded using the QR code in the gallery’s front window. It’s an alternate take on mixed-media and a clever way to reinforce Pecou’s visual message with an audio one.
Listen to a sample track here.
The exhibit is on view at Lyons Weir Gallery from Sept. 6 to Oct. 6, 2012.
All photos © Arts Observer
From left, “It’s About Time,” 2012 (acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on canvas) and “Shiny Things,” 2012 (acrylic, gold leaf, silver leaf, diamond dust glitter and spray paint on canvas).
“All Dat Glitters Aint Goals,” 2012 (acrylic, silver leaf, gold leaf, spray paint and oil stick on canvas).
From left, “Hvywght Chump,” 2012 (acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on wood); “Shine,” 2012 (acrylic, gold leaf and spray paint on wood); and “Off Da Chain,” 2012 (acrylic, gold leaf and spray paint on wood).
Detail of “Heir Conditioning; Even My Conditioning Has Been Conditioned,” 2012 (acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on canvas).
From left, “Eye Cons,” 2012 (acrylic and spray paint on canvas) and “Irony,” 2012 (acrylic, gold leaf, oil stick and spray paint on canvas).