(Translation by Lisa Tuttle)

Fahamu Pecou – Is he the secret son of Warhol?

Painting, music, social criticism – the black American artist pulls in all directions like the show "Hard 2 Death", his Parisian exhibition at Backslash Gallery

Yes, he is as much a megalomaniac as the Pope of Pop Art. Front row, Andy Warhol positioned himself there: king of The Factory, serial friend of VIP's, chief puppet-master of the arty New York lifestyle, he liked to rule his world, even if we discovered him equally scornful of, and obsessed by, his own legend in his "Journal". At 35 years old, Fahamu Pecou also considers his place to be at the front of the stage. And if they don't put him on magazine covers, he invites himself there, painting himself onto the front of "Flaunt", "Raw Vision", "George", "Art in America"…in the style of gangsta rappers, he displays a bullying attitude, cigar in jaw and pointing his finger, claiming the declarations of Warhol, "New art's never new when it's done". Yes, he denounces contemporary society. Consumption, celebrity, his own work: behind everything he did, Andy recycled the society he lived in to fight it better. Fahamu, himself, immersed in the history of the black American people, depicts the clichés which have allowed Blacks to create identities for themselves in the country of Uncle Sam by caricaturing themselves. "The references that I borrow from hip hop are like a coded language that critiques notions of celebrity and the image of black masculinity," he explains. These large canvasses borrow from the warlike and infantile attitudes of young men, overplaying their virility as if their own personalities won't be enough to impose themselves on the world. Yes, he isn't satisfied by painting. When he didn't paint, Andy designed record covers (Lennon, the Stones, the Velvet…) made films ("Sleep, "Chelsea Girls"…) or published the magazine "Interview". Not really a deceiver either, Fahamu: involved in debates about the role of contemporary art in U.S. society, he took advantage of his Parisian exhibition to question his own honorable flow in "All Falls Down", a rap song he wrote and directed a video. Backslash Gallery therefore took the opportunity to produce 400 copies of a 45 vinyl record to mark the occasion. There's nothing like hip hop music.

- Raphael Turcat