Playful yet powerful: Samuel Fosso’s ‘Affirmative Acts’
, 2022-12-05 03:03:00,
The art exhibition “Samuel Fosso: Affirmative Acts” is currently on display at Art on Hulfish, a satellite gallery of the Princeton University Art Museum tucked behind the Nassau Inn. The exhibition, which runs from Nov. 19 to Jan. 29, highlights the life and work of Samuel Fosso, a Nigerian-Cameroonian photographer who specializes in self-portraiture.
The Hulfish exhibition is presented in a chronological fashion, wrapping around the walls of the room, demonstrating Fosso’s progression as an artist. His initial photographs, a series from the 1970s, were developed from unused film he had after spending days photographing sitters for portraits. The stark black-and-whiteness of the pictures highlights Fosso’s creative use of posing and fashion. He dons patterned shirts, large sunglasses, and wide-legged pants, challenging the social norms at the time.
Fosso’s staging is striking — in various pictures, he props a foot on a stool, peers out through a set of curtains, or engages the viewers directly by looking directly at them. His initial photographs, despite the austere lack of color, have a vibrancy and playfulness, contrasting the war and illness that surrounded his life at the time. Fosso’s inventive fashion and photography acted as an escape from the harsh world around him.
Fosso’s 1997 collection, a collaboration with French discount retailer Tati, exhibits…
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