Fahamu Pecou is the Shit
Steven Psyllos
Fahamu "the Guru" Pecou is an Atlanta-based artist whose recent series of paintings is drumming up chatter. Pecou creates large-scale, detailed paintings that are fashioned after international magazine covers that one would see in a global-minded kiosk in any major metropolis. Titles he incorporated in the series include art-specific publications such as Art In America, Modern Painters, Artforum, ArtNews, Art Nexus and Flash Art, as well as pop culture glossies such as Interview ("the Crystal Ball of Pop"), Frank and the LA fashion rag, Flaunt. On the "cover," Pecou paints his own visage, posing with familiar hiphop bravado. The series of paintings is brimming with irony–focusing on how celebrities are made and who "makes" a celebrity a star–using hiphop culture’s invasion of the highbrow media institutions as a jump-off, and–there goes the neighborhood!–the art world is no longer safe.
Fahamu Pecou is not content to limit his commentary to merely one medium. He also holds "performances" at his artist receptions. These performances normally include the artist all slicked out in a suit, pulling from a fine cigar, leading a beautiful lady in a "Fahamu Pecou is the Shit" t-shirt around the reception. At a recent opening in Dallas, Pecou set up an installation of an elevated "VIP room" to which he and two young ladies were escorted–along a red carpet, of course–where they sat and drank champagne while a bodyguard surveyed the scene. Those in attendance stood aside and watched the performance, not quite sure where the performance began and the artist’s ego ended.
On the phone, Pecou is refreshingly down to earth. I’m glad to hear my assumptions were correct and he is not caught up in a whirlwind of newfound recognition, and that the character gracing the covers of those major magazine titles is just that–a character.
Steven Psyllos:
Your pieces are tight, the imagery is powerful. I like how you, as an emerging artist, take it to people directly. Placing yourself at the head of the class, proclaiming your own stardom–not waiting for someone else to do so. It feels quite effective. What sparked the series of magazine covers?
Fahamu Pecou: It started out with a marketing campaign. A couple of years ago I started this marketing campaign called "Fahamu Pecou is the Shit." At that point, it didn’t really have a beat to it, I was just using a phrase and wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with it. It evolved into the series of the magazine covers that is playing off the idea of celebrities and how celebrities are made, and at the same time it was kind of my slap in the face to the art establishment.
SP: You chose specific magazines. Which was the first?
FP: The first magazine I did was a magazine I made up. It’s called Contemporaneo. As a part of my campaign I designed postcards for this magazine. Basically, you filled out the card and sent it in and you’d get a free copy of the magazine. But I really just wanted to see how people would react to something like that. I put myself on the cover and designed this postcard around it. That’s how the paintings started, after I saw the image I thought, I should paint it.
SP:
Do you have a background in graphic design?
FP: I own a design company in Atlanta.
SP:
How long have you been painting?
FP: I’ve been painting forever. Since I’m a little kid.
SP: Mind if I ask how old are you?
FP:
I’m 30.
SP: The images, or rather the composition of the images, reflect the style of photography one would normally see in glossies. Where will this series go? How far will you take it?
FP:
It’s evolving into a lot of other things. I’m actually in the process of working on a documentary called The Rise of an Urban Legend. A camera crew shadows me as I do my performances at art exhibits, or wherever I am. Again, I’m really experimenting with media culture and how celebrities are made in this society. I’m playing with all aspects and all forms of media to create this series.
SP: Within this, you are the center, the star.
FP:
I’m the central focus because this is born out of a marketing campaign and a way to promote myself as an artist, but, like I said, it has evolved into more.
SP: And this is what has created a buzz for you. Describe the art scene right now.
FP: It’s really weird, man. Being an African-American artist, there are always challenges. From my perspective, it has been really difficult to get recognition in the game. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff, all types of work and not really getting that nod. The scene can be very elitest, even the way they promote artists and art events, they only speak to a certain type of audience. But I feel like there’s a new generation of artists, a new generation of art consumers. Everything is changing and the art world has to change to reflect that. I don’t feel like it has done that just yet. I’m also looking at the way hiphop has changed contemporary culture overall and adding those elements into what I’m doing with the artwork. It’s an irony I’m playing with here: inserting hiphop culture onto these highbrow art magazines.
SP: Your work seems to mirror hiphop culture, maybe it’s the bravado or the style of imagery. How much was hiphop an inspiration?
FP: The whole marketing campaign started as a result of me designing a lot of stuff for hiphop artists. Specifically looking at what was done for 50 Cent when he first came out, the marketing machine behind him was phenomenal. Before his album dropped everybody knew his name, knew he got shot nine times. So I started playing with this idea. When I did the first image, it was me in the hardest pose possible, looking real hard and it was all about that hiphop bravado. I was taking that and moving with it.
SP: The contemporary hiphop icon is that hard stance, that masculinity. Is there a comment on that in your work?
FP: There’s a comment on it going both ways. Sometimes I parody the excessiveness of hiphop. I even went out and got a pimp cup made that says "The Shit." But the comment is on society overall. I’m looking at what people are reacting to and I’m throwing it back at them. People react to that hard image, that real tough exterior.
SP: So do you normally walk around with a cigar?
FP: Actually I do, I usually have one on me. It’s actually kind of funny because people have been presenting me with cigars as gifts lately. The last couple of openings I’ve had, people gave me some nice, really expensive cigars as gifts.
SP: Do you think older collectors or the old league of art lovers see the irony or do they think your just a flashy cat?
FP: It’s been real interesting. Generationally, everybody gets it. They get it and they like it. I haven’t gotten any negative feedback on anything yet. Actually at an opening a few weeks ago, one person came up to me and made a comment like "The work is irreverent, in-your-face and cocky, but it isn’t offensive." It’s irreverent but it’s smart, it’s cocky but it’s fun.
SP: It takes it directly to people, using publications and glossies that people normally would read and placing yourself right there for all to see. Also, I could sort of tell that you were not that kind of guy, flashy and all. And yet you’re doing it. What other kind of performances have you held?
FP: In the neighborhood where I work there are about nine art galleries and they generally have openings at the same time, so they have an "art crawl." I put a canvas out in the middle of the street, I had a camera crew with lights, a big crowd of people around me, a DJ outside, and I just sat there and painted. People were walking by like "who is this guy?"
SP: Go right to the street, create a stir. Guerilla tactics, forget about going through the usual methodology.
FP: I still have more traditional shows but all my packages are branded "Fahamu Pecou is the Shit." It’s all about packaging and how it’s presented. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the anonymous slides and the artist statement thing, that’s boring. When I send my packages to galleries, I want people to say "What is this?"
