mumbo jumbo

francks deceus

Rooted in the artist’s experience as a Black man and Haitian immigrant raised in an urban context in the United States of America, Deceus explores the tension between self-actualization and social structures. Through conceptual, abstract and figurative painting, collage and drawing Deceus examines a layered experience of identity. With an understanding of himself as a human being, an immigrant, and a racialized body, the negotiation of power dynamics rooted in historical systems and practices generates a particular type of pressure on both himself and other bodies of color; one that impedes our existence, our livelihoods and our ability to move freely within society. This pressure is embodied visually in the loaded symbolism of the hose - most notably a tool of violence in the civil rights movement - which acts as the central antagonist in his most recent body of work, Mumbo Jumbo.

About the artist

Francks F. Deceus was born in Cap-Haitien, Haiti 1966. He currently resides and maintains a studio in Brooklyn, NY. Deceus received a B.A. in sociology from Long Island University, NY, in 1992. Décéus has studied printmaking at the venerated Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, and in June of 2007, he completed a month-long printmaking residency in Gentilly, France. He was the recipient, in February 2008, of the Samella Lewis Award for Painting in the Hampton University Museum’s juried exhibition, “New Power Generation 2008.”
Throughout his artistic career, Décéus' work has marched chronologically from his childhood in Haiti, through his immersion into his new urban community as an immigrant, and recently, to his meditations on a conceptual vision of humanity. He has always been more interested in exploring themes and issues than in making definitive statements or creating a visual language with his art, and his work resonates with political and sociological content.
Stylistically his work incorporates many of the influences and aesthetic forms of artists like Norman Lewis and Howarddena Pindell, and reverberates with some of the artistic strains of his native Haiti. His modernist style combines figurative, abstract, and layered elements and relies heavily on a simplification of form and function. His work is characterized by a semiotic economy, minimalist use of imagery, and a deliberately limited palette range within series of work.

His solo exhibitions include N’Namdi Contemporary, FL. the Pounder-Kone Art Space, LA. Salina Gallery, LIU Brooklyn, NY.
Group exhibitions include the Brooklyn Museum, NY; Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts (MOCADA), Brooklyn, NY; The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN; Gallery M, New York, NY; and Hampton University, Hampton, VA. 5 Myles Gallery Brooklyn, NY.
The works of Deceus have entered numerous private and public collections, including Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, NY. Xavier University, New Orleans, LA, and the Schomburg Center, New York Public Library, NY.

www.deceusart.com

GALLERY HOURS:

Thursday - Sunday, 1 - 6pm, or by appointment. Please email hanne@fivemyles.org, or call 718-783-4438.

DIRECTIONS:

Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

FiveMyles is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, the Perlemeter Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Joseph Robert Foundation, and the William Talbott Hillman Foundation.