On the occasion of its upcoming Africa + Modern and Contemporary Art auction of Wednesday May 11, 2022, PIASA is highlighting the work of photographer Samuel Fosso.
Fosso is a chameleon of sorts. His use of fashion and the body to question identity, gender and sexuality defies simplistic categorization. Since the time of his experimental self-portraits, taken as a teenager in a commercial studio in Bangui, in the Central African Republic, he has consistently explored the myth-making potential of the camera. In his self-portraits, he grows into someone else entirely. Late at night, to finish a roll of film, he would dress up to pose for the camera, composing his appearance from images found in catalogs and magazines, or from album covers of popular Nigerian music stars. In 1997, following his participation in the first Bamako Encounters, the iconic Parisian department store Tati commissioned a new set of selfportraits. The resulting series, Tati, based on African iconography and archetypes of the African diaspora, draws on the symbolic power of clothing, props and posing. It was a pivotal moment in his career. With Tati, Fosso redefined the African body as a territory rich in subjective potentialities. And he went even further.
Artur Walther
New York, 2019
O. Enwezor (ed.), Samuel Fosso: Autoportrait, Steidl, Gottingen, 2021.
Samuel Fosso (Born 1962, Cameroon)
The Pirate (Tati Series), 1997
Estimation : 10 000 / 15 000 €
