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The Arts Intel Report

Arthur Jafa: Black Power Tool and Die Trying

Arthur Jafa, Work in Progress, 2024.

May 2 – June 1, 2024
52 Walker Street, New York, NY 10013, United States

“I want to make Black cinema with the power, beauty, and alienation of Black music,” the polymath artist and cinematographer Arthur Jafa has said. “That’s my big goal.” Jafa’s installations and films tend to focus on changing representations of Blackness—especially in the realms of culture and creativity. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Jafa found himself in the limelight in 2016, after exhibiting a video work titled Love is the Message, the Message is Death. In 2019, he won the top prize at that year’s Venice Biennale. Jafa is recognized as one of the world’s most radical artists. This exhibition presents a large-scale installation and new paintings, film, and sculpture. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: © Arthur Jafa/courtesy of the artist and 52 Walker, New York