Samuel Fosso

Born in Cameroon in 1962, Samuel Fosso lived in Nigeria as a small child but was forced to leave at the end of the Biafran war in 1972. He moved to Bangui, in the Central African Republic where he lives and works.

The exhibition includes works from his 1970s, Tati and African Spirits series. The black and white self portraits of the 1970's (originally sent to his mother in Nigeria to show her he was all right) were followed by the Tati series: a play on Western clichés. Continuing to evolve and expand the scope of his self portraits - using constructed images to critically narrate and reference cultural and political events - Fosso adorned himself to become a golfer, a biker, a lifeguard , an African chief. All are emblems of his politicized intent and liberating sense of irony.