McQueen’s greatest strengths lie in his sequential short-films that have his audience shifting the visual pieces left and right, in order the film begins to make sense; and in those precious moments when his playful props run their course, his spectators are lost in this magical stretch of limbo, where ideas and animation supersede logic and order; which is where McQueen holds his own.
Rajesh Punj analyses the work of Steve McQueen.
Although he hesitates to talk about it, the transition from Surinam to the Netherlands is an issue. It is a transition from a religious culture to a more secular culture. The move from a traditional art academy to an ‘everything-is-possible-academy’ must be enormous. These transitions challenge everyone’s identity.
Rob Perrée on the work of Ruben Cabenda.
I always have human faces in my painting. People are what the world is made of. Personal memories (of course, nostalgia) are a very important aspect of my work. I always tell people that the best education I ever had was growing up in my grandfather’s compound. Every evening as kids we would gather around and listen to stories; someone always had a story to tell. And during festivals performers would come to tell stories.
Yvette Greslé interviews Victor Ehikhamenor.
Sanford Biggers’ works integrate film/video, installation, sculpture, drawing, original music and performance. He intentionally complicates issues such as hip hop, Buddhism, politics, identity and art history in order to offer new perspectives and associations for established symbols. Through a multi-disciplinary formal process, and an equally syncretic creative approach, he makes works or ‘vignettes’ that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are conceptual. I got to know Biggers through a sort of patchwork of conversations as I interacted with him and his work over the years.
Writes Sasha Dees.