Zak Ové's LA JABLESSE (2013) / Yinka Shonibare's Self Portrait (after Warhol) - as part of Get Up, Stand Up Now

Installation photo of Get Up, Stand Up Now at Somerset House, LA JABLESSE (2013) by Zak Ové, and Yinka Shonibare's Self Portrait (after Warhol).

The Lajabless is a character in Caribbean folklore. According to legend, she was born human, though after making a deal with the devil, she became a demon. Every full moon, Lajabless casts spells on her victims: unsuspecting men who have strayed from their wives, whom she seduces, leads into the forest to a fatal ending. Zak Ové’s La Jabless takes its form from a hollowed-out tree trunk referencing her Caribbean roots connecting to Africa. Her clothes are made from fishing nets pulled from the River Thames, a necklace of rusting nails and three bronze trumpets are placed to signify her female anatomy. Her two faces represent her seductive facade and the succubus that lies beneath.

SELF PORTRAIT (AFTER WARHOL) 6 (2013)
Screen print, digital print and hand-painted linen

Yinka Shonibare’s work explores issues of race and class through painting, sculpture, photography and film. Having described himself as a ‘post-colonial’ hybrid, Shonibare questions the meaning of cultural and national definitions. His trademark material is the brightly coloured ‘African’ batik fabric he buys at Brixton Market. The fabric was inspired by Indonesian design, mass-produced by the Dutch and eventually sold in British colonies in West Africa. In the 1960s, the material became a new sign of African identity and independence. Self Portrait (after Warhol) 6 uses the imagery of batik fabric overlaid across a portrait of the artist’s face. Rich in colour and texture, it is a homage to Andy Warhol’s iconic Camouflage painting of 1986.

Courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and James Cohan Gallery, New York.