Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 5:00AM Our solo booth with painter Derek Fordjour in Volta NY 2016. We are booth E3, fair hours are March 3-5th 12pm - 8pm and ends March 6th 12pm - 6pm
Image courtesy David Willems Photography
Monday, November 23, 2015 at 5:00AM Derek Fordjour has a site specific installation on view now in New York City. Holland Cotter of the New York Times reviews his show. Very excited to debut new paintings from him in our January 2016 show!
Entering Derek Fordjour’s “Upper Room” from Madison Avenue is like changing planets. The small reception area in Robert Blumenthal’s third-floor gallery is carpeted with loose crushed stone, destabilizing underfoot; fragments of neon advertising signs hang from and lean against the walls. To the right, up two steps, a small door leads to a darkened larger space swathed, tent-style, in semisheer fabrics and burlap; the floor here is covered with packed earth. As your eyes adjust to the dimness you can make out tree trunks standing upright like tent poles. Wreaths of dried flowers are suspended from them.
This installation is partly autobiographical. Mr. Fordjour grew up in Memphis, a child of Ghanaian immigrants. “Upper Room” refers to places of worship: a prayer room in his family home and church revival meetings in forest clearings. Worship was intended to strengthen personal identity and safety-in-numbers solidarity, though powerful forces were set against this. A soundtrack of hymns plays in the gallery, but so does live audio from a police scanner in New York City, where the artist now lives. The installation’s atmosphere is one of menace rather than safety. It feels less like a place of communion than one of abandoned ritual. The dried flowers could easily be funeral wreaths.
Mr. Fordjour takes risks here: If he had overstated his basic image, or editorialized on it, the piece would have landed with a thud. He has trusted in the truth of materials to tell a story, and they do. “Upper Room” balances information and mystery. It comes out of personal history, but refers to larger ones, including the history of refugees who still live, destitute and unprotected, in the campgrounds that are streets of this rich city.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 5:00AM Samuel Levi Jones and Derek Fordjour both have work on view now in NY at Sotheby's S2 Gallery. I Like It Like This is a collaborative exhibition with musician Drake. Samuel Levi Jones has this piece titled Brutality while Derek Fordjour has a painting titled Concatenation.
"Today, musicians rap about painters and commission artists to design their album covers; in the same vein artists look to music as inspiration for their paintings. Influences flow in both directions to create a fertile creative environment, producing some of the most resonant and profound artistic output in American history.
I Like It Like This, presented by S|2 in collaboration with Drake is a celebration of influential Contemporary black American artists. Grammy winning artist Drake has provided musical curation by selecting songs to accompany highlighted works in the exhibition."
Monday, November 18, 2013 at 5:00AM Derek Fordjour is a first generation Ghanian American who grew up in Memphis. He now lives and works in Harlem and is creating some very interesting works.
Artist Bio:
Derek Fordjour is an artist working in variety of media, primarily drawing, painting and printmaking. He studied at Pratt Institute and the Art Student’s League in New York City. He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia, earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Harvard University and is currently pursuing an MFA in painting at Hunter College. His work is in several collections throughout the US.
http://derekfordjour.com/
