George "Fowokan" Kelly (born 1 April 1943) is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n-born visual artist who lives in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and exhibits using the name "Fowokan" (a Yoruba word meaning: "one who creates with the hand"). He is a largely self-taught artist, who has been practising sculpture since 1980. His work is full of the ambivalence he sees in the deep-rooted spiritual and mental conflict between the African and the European. Fowokan's work is rooted in the traditions of

pre-colonial Africa Archaic humans Out of Africa 1, emerged out of Africa between 0.5 and 1.8 million years ago. This was followed by the Recent African origin of modern humans, emergence of anatomically modern humans, modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') in East A ...

and

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

rather than the

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

art of the west. He has also been a jeweller, essayist, poet and musician (a former member of the funk group

Cymande Cymande (pronounced ) are a British funk group that was originally active in the early 1970s. The band name derives from a calypso word for "dove", which symbolises peace and love; "Dove" is also the title of one of their best-known songs. Wi ...

in the early 1970s).

Background and career

Born as Kenness George Kelly in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, he migrated to Britain in 1957 and lived in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

.Margaret T. Andrews
"Fowokan"
in Alison Donnell (ed.), ''Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture'', Routledge, 2001, p. 117. He decided to become an artist while on a visit to Benin, Nigeria, in the mid-1970s. He had travelled as a musician to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, where he experienced some kind of spiritual transformation or enlightenment. He returned to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

determined to acquire knowledge of the technique of

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, which he was able to find in books and through trial and error. Coming to the visual arts comparatively late in life, he deliberately chose not to be trained in western institutions, which he felt could not teach him what he wanted to know, they being too deeply entrenched in their own traditions with little or no understanding or interest in the things that interested him most – the ideas behind the art and culture of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The philosophical aspect of his oeuvre came with his travels through various parts of Africa, exploring the spiritual side of his ancestral home. He believes the intuitive/spiritual aspect of reality that still abounds in Africa was his art school and university. He has also written essays that have been published in books and magazines. In 2011 Fowokan featured in "Better than Good", an arts education initiative to highlight the achievements of Black artists in Britain. His work was shown prominently in the exhibition'' No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990'', held at the

Guildhall Art Gallery The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...

between July 2015 and January 2016. The biography ''Becoming Fowokan: The Life and Works of Fowokan George Kelly'', by Margaret Andrews, was published in January 2022.

Concepts

Kelly sees African art not as art in the western sense but as creations associated with religion, magic and ritual. The encounter between the

n and the

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an has brought about deep-rooted spiritual and mental conflicts at the core of the African, along with the belief that the African is nothing more than "the reflection of a primitive and barbarous mentality". Kelly believes that art has an important role to play in the struggle to define and redefine a contemporary African world-view. In today's African artists' work, he argues, we must see the eyes and hands of the contemporary artist, looking anew, through the prism of an African aesthetic, speaking in a new world with the voices of the ancestors, voices for so long silenced; in doing so, their art will offer new generations the opportunity to look again with fresh eyes, to see themselves in new ways. The primary motifs of Kelly's practice are naturalistic portraits, such as his bust of

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu, E. N. (2012), "Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands". ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), pp. 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British Nursing, nurse and Women in business ...

. But he also introduces forms that allude to a fascination with

and the

African Diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

, such as ''The Lost Queen of

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

'' — a sculpture inspired by the story of a settlement of Africans who, across the 18th and 19th centuries, escaped enslavement and lived as a community on the border of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and Dutch Guiana for 90 years, only to be re-captured due to their lack of vigilance."Clash Of Cultures (1/2)"
Alex Sampson's Ravensbourne Blog, 13 October 2015. — which, according to ''Nerve'' magazine, "has a beauty that overwhelms".

Collections

Examples of Kelly's work are held in many public and private art collections, including that of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

and the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

, London. In the mid-1980s, he exhibited in the ground-breaking " Creation for Liberation" series of group exhibitions organised in

, South London, by

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson Order of Distinction, OD (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poetry, dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in th ...

and his colleagues in the '' Race Today'' Collective. Kelly's work has also been shown at the

Studio Museum The Studio Museum in Harlem is an African-American art museum at 144 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Founded in 1968, the museum collects, preserves and interprets art created by African A ...

, New York, and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, London.

Selected exhibitions

*1982: Brixton Art Gallery inaugural exhibition *1983: Creation for Liberation: Open Exhibition Contemporary Black Art in Britain, St Matthews Meeting, London *1984: ''Art in Exile'', The Black Art Gallery, London *1985: ''From Generation to Generation'', Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham. Installation by the OBAALA Arts Cooperative including David A. Bailey,

Sonia Boyce Dame Sonia Dawn Boyce (born 1962) is a British British African-Caribbean community, Afro-Caribbean artist and educator who lives and works in London. She is a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London. Boyce's research ...

, Shakka Dedi, George Kelly, and Keith Piper. *1985: ''New Horizons'',

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

, London *1987: ''Three Dimensions'', The Black Art Gallery, London *1989: ''Three Brixton Artists: Pearl Alcock, George Kelly, Michael Ross'', 198 Gallery, London *1990:

Havana Biennial The Bienal de La Habana was a traditional Latin, Caribbean event, originated in Havana, Havana, Cuba, that aims to raise awareness to promote contemporary art and giving priority to Latin Americans, Latin-American and Caribbean artists. The eve ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

*1991: The Royal Academy of Art Summer Show, London *1994: ''Beyond My Grandfather’s Dreams'', Jamaican High Commission, London *1997: ''Transforming the Crown'', Studio Museum Harlem,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

*1999–2005: The

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

of Art Summer Show, London, 1991 *1999–2006: Society of Portrait Sculptors exhibition at The Gallery Cork Street, London *2007: ''Inhuman Traffic: The Business of the Slave Trade'',

The British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, London *2008: ''Hawkins & Co'', Contemporary Urban Centre, Liverpool *2011: ''From Bronze to Gold Exhibition'', Rich Mix, London"From Bronze to Gold Exhibition"
ItzCaribbean, 1 October 2011. *2015: '' No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990'',

, London

References

External links