Instagram Takeover: Delphine Fawundu

Brighton Photo Biennial artist, Delphine Fawundu, takes over our Instagram account, August 2016.

Follow us on Instagram instagram.com/photoworks_uk

Adama Delphine Fawundu is an artist working in Brooklyn, NY. She is 2016 awardee of the New York Foundation of the Arts Artist Fellowship. Her work examines the theory of social constructivism within the development of identity.

Attendee at the 1st Dandy Lion Exhibit, Harlem Pop/SocietyHae November 2010.– . #Photoworks_uk #instagramtakeover Day #5. I'm honored to be part of The 2016 Brighton Photo Biennial and to participate in The Dandy Lion Exhibit curated by Shantrelle P. Lewis. Ms. Lewis states, The Dandy Lion Project "defy stereotypical and monolithic understandings of masculinity within the Black community." The images that I am sharing today were created at the first exhibition of the Dandy Lion Project in Harlem, 2010. The three men visiting attended the event, I liked their style and photographed them. #TheDandyLionProject #Photoworks_uk #BPB2016 #AdamaDelphineFawundu @apshantology

A photo posted by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Aug 26, 2016 at 12:17pm PDT

The African Dream? Bamako, Mali 2013. Instagram Takeover day #4. When the great Fela Kuti sang, "I no be gentleman at all" those words were deeper than the suit and tie that he refers to in the song. What exactly is an African identity? With over 2000 languages and 3000 ethnicities on the continent, can we view the African identity as something singular? This portion of #DeconstructingShe confronts the intersection of ethnic,national and continental identity. How valued are traditional ideals within urban "African" spaces? Are post-colonial nations neo-colonial? Is the new Western influenced social, political and economic way the most beneficial road for this continent? #instagramtakeover #AdamaDelphineFawundu #BPB2016 #theafricandream

A photo posted by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Aug 25, 2016 at 10:25am PDT

With this concept in mind, her art investigates the impact of the political and social movements on social constructs such as race, class and gender. Her latest works of self-portraits and African Diaspora imagery explores the connections and disconnections between internal and external identities. It appropriates representations of Blackness and African ethnicities while disrupting stagnant ideas about these identities. It queries the fine line between intrinsic identities and the identities evolved from social, political and nationalistic influences.

#2 Blue Eyes, Cocoa Brown: The Bluest Eyes Series. Toni Morrison's Pecola from The Bluest Eye novel reimagined. #DeconstructingShe | Today for the #photoworks_uk instagram takeover, I share with you this series of 3 from Deconstructing She. Deconstructing She is inspired by the historical development of societal constructs impacted by African colonization and the TransAtlantic Slave Trade. I am particularly interested in how these events have impacted the modern identities of women of African descent. What role does race, gender, religion and class play in the construction and perceptions of these identities? When do intrinsic and external identities intersect, when do they collide? My series Deconstructing SHE: A One- Woman Show attempts to answer this question. #instagramtakeover #AdamaDelphineFawundu #BPB16 #photoworks_uk This series is currently on view at the Grunwald Art Gallery at Indiana University.

A photo posted by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Aug 23, 2016 at 5:56am PDT

Mende Woman Appears on the Turner Plantation #8. Ode To Nat Turner Series. South Hampton, Virginia. 2014 | #photoworks_uk Instagram Take Over Day 3. I post this series 3 days after the anniversary of the commencement of Nat Turners Rebellion on August 21, 1831. And the reflection begins…The ground upon which my feet stood remembers and I felt it…my feet remained bare as they guided me through the space in which Nat Turner was born. I couldn’t help losing brief intervals of consciousness within gazes into the endless paths of serene greenery and the wooded forests….With no words to describe the true essence of what I felt, I meditated and allowed my body to move with the surrounding energy. I manifested this energy through art #deconstructingshe #photoworks_uk #BPB16 #AdamaDelphineFawundu #instagramtakeover #OdeToNatTurner #NatTurner #natturnerrebellion

A photo posted by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Aug 24, 2016 at 5:34am PDT

Ms. Fawundu is pleased to be part of The Dandy Lion (Re)Articulating Black Masculine Identity exhibition featured in the 2016 Brighton Photo Biennial.

Follow us on Instagram instagram.com/photoworks_uk

For more on Delphine’s work, click here.