BORN inFAMOUS is the latest suite of paintings utilizing Pecou’s alter ego as “art celebrity”. These works consider and challenge art-world politics and issues of the black male body. Audacious, confrontational, and witty, the work appropriates the lexicons of celebrity, magazine, and fine art culture to facilitate conversations that allow the viewer to examine these traditionally separate worlds and see where they connect.

In BORN inFAMOUS, Pecou ups the ante with the swagger of a Blaxploitation anti-hero, battling a system that prides itself on tokenism and flavor-of-the-month icons. The paintings in this series cite the work and words of figures like Melvin Van Peebles and Andre 3000 (of the hip-hop group Outkast), whose ability to stay politically and socially current in their work make them relevant to a contemporary audience as they recalibrate their work and careers across genres and styles. Pecou continues to implant himself into the discourse surrounding international art politics using publications from across the globe to reinvent himself as an "artist to be reckoned with".

FAHAMU PECOU
b. 1976 Brooklyn, NY

EDUCATION:

1997 Bachelor of Fine Art, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
1996- Independent Study/PaintingSpelman College, Atlanta, GA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:


2007
BORN inFAMOUS, Lyons Wier Ortt, NYC
Things Done Changed, Vaknin, Atlanta, GA
Hustle and Show, Flanders Gallery, Raliegh, NC
2006
Neopopular Demand, MMGalleries, San Francisco, CA
NEOPOP & Circumstance, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX
2005
NEOPOP Goes the World, Ty Stokes Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2003
Dar La Luz, The Rotunda at the Roosevelt, Atlanta, GA
2004
Sacred Spaces, Wood is Wonderful Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2002
Libations & Invocations, Wood is Wonderful Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2001
Bible Stories: An Installation by Fahamu Pecou, The Gilbert House, Atlanta, GA
2000
Anges de Nuit, The Crescent Room, Atlanta, GA
1996
Life After Death: An Installation by Fahamu Pecou, Gallery 100, Atlanta, GA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:


2005
Art, Beats + Lyrics, High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA
Como Se Cuenta El Cuento, Taller Portobel, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Selections, Ty Stokes Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Sacred Spaces, Broyles Art Center, Westminster School, Atlanta GA
The One, NGC224 Brooklyn, NY2005
Pool Art Fair, SoLita Hotel/ Soho; New York, NY
2004
Art, Beats, Lyrics, The 5 Spot, Atlanta GA
Studio Sweepings, 310 Haustudio, Atlanta GA
Sneaker Pimps, More Dusty Than Digital, Atlanta GA, Sneaker Pimps USA Tour
The Art of Martell, Luxe, Atlanta GA
2003
Ferias de Portobelo, Las Orquidias, Portobelo, Panama
2002
The Delphina Project (Performance), Spelman College, Atlanta GA
Changing Traditions, Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, GA
2001
Santuario de los Reyes, Festival Iberoamericana de Teatro de Cadiz, Baluarte de Candelaria / Cadiz, Spain
2000
Alumni Exhibit, Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1999
Sankofa, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1998
Alumni Exhibit, Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1997
Precise Significance, Hammonds House Galleries, Atlanta, GA
Senior Show, Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
A Beginning with no Ends, Ellis-Chambers Gallery, Decatur, GA