Phokus

Phokus (African American b. 1972 in Atlanta GA, currently works and lives in AustinTX) becoming increasingly known for his use of grand scale, symbolism, and narrative laden works that explore esoteric parallels of the human condition. The work is a visceral response to his Southern cultivation as well his investigations of anthropology, metaphysics, historians, music, mythology, and mysticism. Phokus' work addresses a critique on race, alienation and sex. The artist reclaims by collecting and archiving resources of documented images of indigenous tribes, national geographic magazines, narratives, contemporary graphic novels, music text, and materials that are connected throughout his personal history. The artists' resulting aesthetic language is derived of memory and his unique form of myth making, establishing contemporary depth while making social and personal commentary.

I am the Shaman, an artist. I stand upon the shoulders of giants descending from an affluent notable lineage that prompt me to create. Sages. Griots. Merchants. Draftsman. Mediums. Colonialism has imposed a new form of truth. Histories have been cannibalized. I reclaim and archive human narratives. Shamanism predates religion. It is a common practice found across races, cultures, and nations. My work explores parallels of these residual evidences in juxtaposition to a modern black culture’s changing definition of self in this American arena. I reclaim and establish new narratives by introducing rites of passage through symbols and my own personal narratives. By gathering objects and anecdotes I reanimate and reclaim histories, creating new narratives through the work.

https://linktr.ee/phokus_1