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The Shadows took Shape

The Shadows Took Shape, was an interdisciplinary exploration of contemporary art through the lens of Afrofuturist aesthetics at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. With roots in avant-garde musical compositions by sonic innovator Sun Ra (Herman Poole Blount 1914-1993), Afrofuturism is a creative and intellectual genre that emerged as a strategy to explore science fiction, fantasy, magical realism and pan-Africanism. Artist, writers and theorists have used Afrofuturism as a way to prophesize the future, re-define the present and re-conceptualise the past.

Often cast as an exclusively black preserve, this exhibition presents Afrofuturism’s expansive dynamism and global influence, its Protean philosophy embraced by artists seeking to create alternative futures while often grappling with present day complexities. The exhibition is curated by Naima J. Keith and Zoe Whitley and ran from 14th November 2013 to 9th March 2014, accompanied by a major catalogue.

For the exhibition Harold Offeh presented a series of photographs and videos called Covers. In Covers, Harold Offeh attempts to transform album covers from the 70s and 80s into durational performances. The videos and photographs record a series of performative acts in which Offeh tries to physically embody images from popular culture. One previous work, Arabesque (After Grace Jones, 1978), is a playful but pathetic homage to Grace Jones' cover artwork from the compilation album 'Island Life'. The cover sees a manipulated image of Jones holding an impossible arabesque pose.

Offeh’s work for The Shadows Took Place attempts to deconstruct the visual language of Afrofuturist visual culture, exploring the use of myth and narrative to project alternative visions of black culture.