• Description
  • Artist
  • Terms

Arthur Jafa

Untitled, 2023
Archival Pigment Inkjet Print 
Image Size: 4.8 x 6.35 inches (12.2 x 16.1 cm) 
Framed size 43.2 x 41.3 cms
Framed 
Edition of 20
Hand signed and numbered by the artist

£2,000 (incl. VAT) 
 
In this print, Jafa has manipulated a found image. The hair of the central figure takes on a transformative quality, merging into a silvery wisp that transcends physical boundaries, juxtaposing an abstracted scene of a violent car crash. The image prompts viewers to confront themes of vulnerability and impermanence.

Across three decades, Jafa has developed a dynamic, multidisciplinary practice, ranging from films and installations to lecture-performances and happenings that tackle, challenge and question prevailing cultural assumptions about identity and race.

‘How do we imagine things that are lost? What kind of legacy can we imagine despite that loss and despite the absence of things that never were?’ – Arthur Jafa

 

Arthur Jafa

See more products by   Arthur Jafa

Arthur Jafa (b. 1960 in America) has developed a dynamic, multidisciplinary practice, ranging from films and installations to lecture-performances and happenings that tackle, challenge and question prevailing cultural assumptions about identity and race.

‘How do we imagine things that are lost? What kind of legacy can we imagine despite that loss and despite the absence of things that never were?’ –Arthur Jafa

Jafa’s work is driven by a recurrent question: how might one identify and develop a specifically Black visual aesthetics equal to the ‘power, beauty and alienation’ of Black music in US culture?

 Jafa originally trained as an architect and made his cinematic debut as Director of Photography for Julie Dash’s 1991 film Daughters of the Dust,  for which he won best cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival. As part of the BFI’s season Unbound: Visions of the Black Feminine,  a new restoration of Daughters of the Dust was released at selected cinemas across the UK on Friday 2 June to mark the film’s 25th anniversary – see the BFI website for more information.

Jafa has also collaborated with directors ranging from Spike Lee (Crooklyn,  1994) to John Akomfrah (Seven Songs for Malcolm X, 1993), and artists including Kara Walker and Fred Moten. He has also been recognised for his work on the Solange Knowles videos, Don’t Touch My Hair  and Cranes in the Sky  (2016). Explaining his favourite medium, Jafa has said: “Film is one of the few things, particularly in the theatrical context, that takes up as much space as architecture but like music is fundamentally immaterial.”

Terms and Conditions

By purchasing Serpentine Limited Editions you are agreeing to theseterms and conditionsof sale.

All sales of our Limited Editions go towards our programme, by purchasing a Serpentine Limited Edition you are ensuring Serpentine can remain free and open to all. Please contact editions@serpentinegalleries.org for further information.

As a result of the new Brexit rules and regulations, VAT is now calculated in the checkout section in your cart and is dependent on the shipping destination.

Please note that customers outside of the UK may be required to pay import VAT and/or customs duty to their local courier company before receiving the goods.