Party People
A photo story on party scenes by Black American, Black British and African artists.
Lately, I have been interested in frequencies, vibrations and their capacities to induce trance-like states in people. Whilst reviewing Olukemi Lijadu’s film in The Heart is the First Drum, I suggested that given all these unseen mechanics of sound colliding with our bodies, the DJ becomes a spiritual guide for a collective transcendental experience.
This photo story is simple. Of course there are underlying complexities as there are with most things, but this is simply a photo story showing how parties have been depicted in the fine art canon by Black American, Black British, and African artists. Of course, one could delve deeper into each of these party scenes and contextualise them within their wider political contexts and position the party as a radical act, from gaining independence from European countries, to the Civil Rights movement, to diasporic transplantations, but I just want you to enjoy these.
Enjoy the dense compositions and psychedelic lighting in the paintings of Moké (b. 1950, Democratic Republic of Congo) and Demas Nwoko (b. 1935, Nigeria). Enjoy the budding romances captured in the photographs of Sanlé Sory (b. 1943, Burkina Faso) and Malick Sidibé (b. 1936, Mali). Enjoy the infamous outstretched limbs in Ernie Barnes’s (b. 1938, USA) The Sugar Shack and a club aftermath scene by Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955, USA). Enjoy the club coming alive again in Denzil Forrester’s (b. 1956, Grenada) Tutti-Frutti. Enjoy the depictions of Notting Hill Carnival by Sola Olulode (b. 1996, UK) and Jesse Akele (b. 1995, UK). Enjoy the photographs of British queer nightlife captured by Bernice Mulenga (b. 1996, British-Congolese).
