Traces of Ecstasy - Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989)

A provocative, multilayered photographic retrospective. This profoundly personal and political exploration of complex notions of desire, diaspora, and spirituality, imaginatively interprets the boundaries between spiritual and erotic fantasy, cultural and sexual difference. A seminal figure in 1980s black British and African contemporary art, Fani-Kayode’s timeless photographic tableaux make the black male body the focal point of enquiry.  Ancestral rituals and a provocative, multi-layered symbolism fuse with archetypal motifs from European and African cultures and subcultures - inspired by what Yoruba priests call ‘the technique of ecstasy’.

iziko