Three films by Arthur Jafa that belong to the Pinault Collection are being screened for the first time ever in Paris, as part of the Corps et âmes exhibition. In the Rotunda, Love is the Message, the Message is Death (2016) transforms the space into a sounding board for the music and commitment of African-American icons such as Martin Luther King Jr, Jimi Hendrix, Barack Obama and Beyoncé, giving them universal appeal. The artist is also taking over Galerie 2 and the museum’s Studio, inviting visitors to become one with his films.
Across various media, the work of Los Angeles-based artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa embraces and celebrates Black American culture for all its nobility. From Barack Obama to gospel, from Aretha Franklin to the Black Lives Matter protests, by way of Miles Davis and Arthur Jafa delves into mass media and pop culture to construct a collage and montage aesthetic that recalls his role as an image collector and which brings together multiple references. He majestically presents the icons of black culture, as he struggles with the complex history of the United States.
