Lavi & Lanmò (Life and Death)

Andre Eugene was born in downtown Port-au-Prince in 1959. He is a leading figure in the artists’ collective known as Atis Rezistans, and a broader movement known as the Sculptors of Grand Rue. Andre Eugene is the co-director of the Ghetto Biennale, which has been held in Port-au-Prince since 2009. Eugene’s work appropriates and repurposes 21st century consumer detritus, often dumped on Haiti, into fetish effigies with an apocalyptic MTV futuristic vision.

"Pyes mwen rele 'Lavi & Lanmò' paske nan moman sa a ou ap fèt ou se souse sou tete nan lanmò. Sa a se siyifi pa lespri Gede Zozo ki nan yon fason reprezante kijan sèkèy la bay tout kò a yon kote nan repo. Motivasyon dèyè travay mwen se chanje sitiyasyon pou lavi ak atizay an Ayiti ak rès mond lan e konprann ke Vodou se nanm pèp la Ayisyan."

"My piece is called 'Life & Death', because from the moment you are born you are sucking on the breast of death. This is signified by the spirit Gede Zozo (Penis), which in a way represents how the coffin gives the whole body a place of rest. The motivation behind my work is to change the situation for life and art in Haiti, and for the rest of the world to understand that Vodou is the soul of the people in Haiti."