'Though our bodies are usually politicised, I seek to further practice reclaiming our narrative like many great artists before me by capturing black bodies in a potent reverence.'
—Emmanuel Taku
Two figures dominate the composition of The Amethyst Pair. Their bodies learn into one another as their gaze turns outwards, presenting an image of intimate solidarity. The dynamic work was created by Ghanaian artist Emmanuel Taku in 2020 during his participation in a 4-week residency at Noldor, a programme established by Joseph Awuah-Darko in Accra, Ghana, to nurture emerging African artists. Taku asserts the significance of the interconnected poses of the bodies, noting that the work was conceived as a celebration of ‘the age-old saying of ‘Ubuntu’ meaning ‘I am because we are.’i Embracing the aesthetic and symbolic potential of different mediums, torn pieces of newspaper embellish the faces of the figures evoking the politicisation of the representation of Black bodies in the media. The artist’s trademark incorporation of paisley also makes a political point. The textile, originally from East India, was introduced to England during the colonial era and in its diasporic journey across the world stands, for Taku, as a symbol of the ‘melting pot of cultural identity.’ii The pattern is screen-printed onto the canvas to clothe the figures in matching amethyst ensembles, evidencing an experimentation with technique that characterised the artist’s residency at Noldor.
The Amethyst Pair was exhibited in Accra alongside a body of figurative work made by Taku during the residency. The exhibition was titled Temple of Blackness – It Takes Two, responding to British-Ghanaian artist John Akomfrah’s characterisation of traditional Western art museums as ‘Temples of Whiteness.’iii Taku explains, ‘[t]his notion stuck with me and drove me to aspire for my own ‘Temple of Blackness’’.iv The figures that occupy this metaphorical temple are depicted in strong poses with blank eyes that recall classical sculptural traditions. However, Taku reconfigures this imagery, painting, collaging, and screen-printing figures, such as those in The Amethyst Pair, so that they take on a supernatural quality as ‘demi-gods, or heroes.’v Taku describes this mode of representation as one of ‘figurative surrealism’, intended to reclaim the ‘objectified representation’ of Black bodies in art.vi Taku’s approach to figuration situates his work alongside that of other artists powerfully forging new modes of Black portraiture, including British artists Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Lubaina Himid, and fellow Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo, with whom Taku trained at the Ghanatta Institute of Art and Design.
Emmanel Taku and Joseph Awuah-Darko, founder and director of the Noldor artist residency, discuss Taku’s participation in the programme, and the process of creating the body of work exhibited as Temple of Blackness – It Takes Two, 2020.
