Arthur Jafa: APEX

Arthur Jafa is widely considered one of the most important artists working today. His key work APEX, a part of the museum’s collection, bombards the viewer with images that never have time to settle and reveals the intimate link between beauty and terror in Black American culture.

The American artist Arthur Jafa (b. 1960) has dealt with images of Black American culture his entire life. The starting point for his art is the ambition to develop a Black American cinema culture with “the power, beauty, and alienation of Black music.”

The artist’s work often shows Black beauty, virtuosity and genius growing out of and shaped by terror, particularly the history of American slavery and its ongoing repercussions.

The images show Black American performers like Miles Davis, Hollywood monsters like the creature from Alien, ethnographic shots of different African peoples, characters in blackface, Mickey Mouse, Felix the Cat, tiny organisms under a microscope, scenes of massacres and lynching, civil rights campaigners, sublime art, and spaceships.

At once both overwhelming and meditative, APEX bombards the viewer with images that never have time to settle. Instead, a powerful mood is conjured up between the images, revealing the intimate link between beauty and terror in Black American culture.

APEX is shown in The Hall Gallery. The work is part of the Louisiana Collection and has been acquired with funding from the Museum Foundation of 7. December 1966 and donations collected via our webpage.