Style and Sympathies include a selection of self-portraits from Nigerian born IKÉ UDÉ's critically acclaimed
Sartorial Anarchy series and for the first time, the series will be broadly continued and presented. Udé's distinctive portraits, which poeticize colors, sumptuous fabrics, and composition, transcend the traditional aesthetic of portraiture by adopting a post-modern twist. The portraits show a highly stylized world of color and improvisational virtuosity, in which the artist employs men's fashion ensembles that have been culled from various historical times and geographies.
Udé has been engaged with this body of work since 2010, when the first photographs of this series were presented in the exhibition, The Global Africa Project, at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York.
Wherein he is dressed in varied costumes across geography and time, Iké Udé explores a world of dualities: photographer / performance artist, artist / spectator, African / post-nationalist, mainstream / marginal, individual / everyman and fashion / art. His photographic work is in the permanent collections of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of Art, and in many private collections.
Iké Udé lives and works in New York City.
Styles and Sympathies
IKÉ UDÉ
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery
Style and Sympathies by Iké Udé
October 10 - November 9, 2013
