Beyond Decorum The Photography of Ike Ude

Summary: From his provocative Cover Girl series featuring photographic portraits of himself on the covers of popular magazines, to his writings on sexuality and identity, the work of Nigerian-born Ikeacute; Udeacute; explores a world of dualities: African/postnationalist, photographer/performance artist, artist/spectator, male/female, mainstream/marginal, seduction/narcissism, and fashion/art. As an artist from Nigeria workin...g in New York City, connected to the world of fashion and celebrity, Udeacute; gives the political aspects of performance and representation a new vitality, melding his own theatrical selves and multiple personae with his art. Like Andy Warhol, Udeacute; plays with the ambiguities of the marketplace and art world, particularly in his notorious art, culture, and fashion magazine, aRUDE. This book, which accompanies a traveling exhibition organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the Maine College of Art, in Portland, Maine, is the first comprehensive publication on Udeacute;'s photography. The book contains photographs of the installations "Beyond Decorum", "Uses of Evidence", and "Project Rear"; several series, including Cover Girls, Uli, and Celluloid; and photographs from his magazine aRUDE. The book also includes essays by Lauri Firstenberg, Kobena Mercer, Olu Oguibe, Valerie Steele, Octavio Zaya, and Ikeacute; Udeacute; himself, as well as an interview with Udeacute; conducted by Okwui Enwezor. The reader meets Udeacute; the artist, editor, dandy, and aesthete. In his writing, Udeacute; speaks of the futility of stereotypes, and in his photography, he brings to life the image of the artist in a plenitude of guises. EXHIBITION SCHEDULE: Institute of Contemporary Art Portland, Maine 24 February-13 April 2000 OBORO Montreal, Canada Autumn 2000 Sert Gallery, Carpenter Center Harvard University Art Museums Cambridge, Massachusetts Summer 2001 [read more]