Artist Ik茅 Ud茅鈥檚 ongoing photographic series Sartorial Anarchy merges clothing and objects from different times and places to upend recognizable signifiers of cultural and individual identity. The Nigerian born artist, now living in New York City, transforms himself into a multifaceted amalgam of many identities in these photographic self-portraits. According to the artist, 鈥淚n each image, I married disparate costumes from widely diverse traditions, countries, and time frames. And in mixing eras and cultures, I was able to bring harmony, as it were, to their similarly irreconcilable differences.鈥�
Ude虂's choice of title (Sartorial Anarchy) portends that the series is about much more than fashion. 鈥淧art of my job,鈥� Ud茅 states, 鈥渋s to keep beautifying Africa for the world, one portrait at a time.鈥� His personas are confident and elegant, secure in their multifaceted, distinctly鈥攂ut not exclusively鈥擜frican identities. Ude虂 serves as the designer, scene painter, actor, and photographer of these portrayals and their rich colors, patterns, and textures suggest art historical influences ranging from Vermeer to Jacob Lawrence. The multiple perspectives and representations found in Ude虂鈥檚 work invite us to contemplate the complex nature of the inner and the outer selves.
Ik茅 Ud茅: Sartorial Anarchy was curated by Lynne Shumow, Curator for Academic Engagement, Haggerty Museum of Art.
Support for this exhibition is generously provided by Lilly Endowment Inc., Dr. Mary Anne Siderits and the Emmett J. Doerr Endowment Fund.
