Three-screen installation, 16mm transferred to digital, colour, 5.1 surround sound, Dimensions variable. Dated and numbered 2005, AP 1. (Edition 6 + 1 AP) Certificate from Isaac Julien Studio accompanies the work
PROVENANCE:
Brändström & Stene
EXHIBITIONS:
Isaac Julien, Brändström & Stene, Stockholm, 2006
“I'm a poet, I'm interested in poetry. My work is a poetic quest for a language to express experiences that are part of the everyday experience of people like myself.
Dance, theater, music, sculpture, painting, all of these different modes of art making are encapsulated in my practice which is why I have chosen film as a medium for my work.” (Isaac Julien, interview in connection with his upcoming exhibition at Tate Modern in spring 2023)
Isaac Julien is one of the leading film and installation artists of our time. He is known for his complex and visually striking works that explore themes of race, capital, sexuality and migration. His works include film, video installations, photography and text-based works.
Julien was born in London in 1960 and trained at Saint Martin's School of Art and at the Chelsea School of Art and Design. In 1983 he co-founded the Sankofa Film and Video Collective. His early works highlight issues of race, gender and sexuality. The film "Looking for Langstone" from 1989, which was also his breakthrough, celebrates the American poet Langston Hughes and the cultural movement known as the "Harlem Renaissance" in New York of the 20s and 30s. A movement that greatly contributed to the African-American civil rights movement and strengthened the identity of black Americans.
In later works, Julian has also raised issues around globalisation, post-colonialism and migration. In the film installation “Fantôme Afrique” from 2005, Julien examines the complex relationships between culture, history and identity in Africa and its diaspora. The auction's works use a visual mix of cinematic and architectural references to examine how Africa's colonial history influences its current position in a globalized world. The film shows footage from the city of Ouagadougou, which is the center of cinema in Africa, and rural Burkina Faso, interweaving these with archival footage from early colonial expeditions and snapshots of African history.
In the work in question, the dancer and choreographer Stephen Galloway and the actor Vanessa Myrie figure as "trickster/phantom" and "witness". They interact with the visual elements of the work and through their movement and dance they explore the contrasts between traditional and modern culture, history and the present. Julien himself describes the work as "..a carefully composed meditation on the denationalized and deterritorialized places born from encounters between local and global cultures and where the ghosts of history linger in the midst of today's realities" Fantôme Afrique is a complex and evocative work that challenges the viewer's understanding of Africa's history and its relations with the outside world while visually fascinating and engaging the viewer.
Today, Isaac Julian is current with a large retrospective solo exhibition, "What Freedom is to Me" at Tate Britain in London. The exhibition shows works from his 40-year long and successful career.
Installation image: Courtesy Isaac Julien Studio
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