Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Zak Ove’s Sculptural Explorations of African Identity

In Zak Ove’s sculptures, viewers find an artist using modern materials and icons to look back at centuries-old cultures. The mixed-media work moves between the futuristic and ancient in its explorations. His stated charge is to “"to reignite and reinterpret lost culture using new-world materials, whilst paying tribute to both spiritual and artistic African identity."

In Zak Ove’s sculptures, viewers find an artist using modern materials and icons to look back at centuries-old cultures. The mixed-media work moves between the futuristic and ancient in its explorations. His stated charge is to “”to reignite and reinterpret lost culture using new-world materials, whilst paying tribute to both spiritual and artistic African identity.”

“The work is born from his documentation of and anthropological interest in diasporic and African history, specifically that which is explored through Trinidadian carnival,” his site says. “His work portrays the emancipation of personal existence through incarnation with an ‘other self,’ showing us the power of play to free an individual from the contained experience of the self. This in turn is filtered through his own personal and cultural upbringing, growing up in London and Trinidad.”

See more of his work below.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Every year, on the first Sunday of September, the Dutch village of Zundert holds its "Bloemencorso Zundert", or "Zundert Flower Parade", featuring larger-than-life floats and an "explosion" of flowers. The giant structures, reaching up to 30 feet tall, are built by volunteers in neighboring village districts and church villages - each one competing for the title of best design. Read a brief history of the parade and view more photos behind the cut.
hotdog Dutch artist Harma Heikens (featured in HF Vol. 13) is not afraid to use loaded imagery. Her upcoming show at KochxBos Gallery in Amsterdam, "All Is Fair in Love and War," toes the line between provocative and profane with a new series of confrontational, human-scale sculptures that touch upon taboo themes such as sexual abuse, violence, media saturation, hate groups and religion. The exhibition coincides with the release of her new book Sculptures, which features a foreword by Hi-Fructose co-editor-in-chief Annie Owens.
Ronit Baranga balances mischievous and playful themes in her sculptures. And in Booth Gallery's upcoming show, "Demons' Playground," new examples of this figurative work are collected. Baranga was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Nothing beat a cardboard box growing up because it wasn't just made of cardboard. Cardboard could instantly become your ticket to a rocket on the moon or your dream fortress where you ruled the world. Using this simple material and a lot of imagination, artist duo Zoey Taylor and David Connelly have built the world they wish to live in. They call it "The House of Cardboard", better known as "Dosshaus". The two (or as they say, "Les Deux") first met in 2010 and it was a match made in heaven that works together as a team, cutting and gluing together the cardboard pieces into life size installations, which feature the creative couple living in a monochromatic black and white house.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List