This is Crocodylus (2020) by Wangechi Mutu. Crocodylus depicts a futuristic humanoid figure that reads as a woman sitting atop a crocodile, yet as you look closer, you see that she is not merely atop the crocodile but she is the crocodile. Her legs meld into the body of the animal and her arms form the reigns. 

Crocodylus is referencing this photo of Naomi Campbell from Harper’s Bazaar riding a crocodile. It was a photoshoot titled “Wild Things” and featured the model with various African animals.

Crocodylus also engages with a history of pornographic and pin-up images of women on motorcycles. In Crocodylus, Mutu reclaims these images and histories surrounding women, particularly Black women and places her figure into a position of power. Instead of aiming to be consumed, Mutu’s Crocodylus is powerful, and though she is taught and strong, her power is tension free. 

About the Artist

Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972) is a Kenyan visual artist who began working with collage before moving towards sculpture in more recent years. She currently splits her time between Nairobi, Kenya and New York City. Much of her work deals with the legacies of colonization and a type of trauma she names as “anglophone trauma”. Her work tends to focus on women and the female body, particularly the Black, African woman’s body. Stylistically, she is considered part of the Afrofuturist movement. 

These are two paintings from Bathers and The Cleansed (2021) by Reggie Burrows Hodges. Hodges’ Bathers and the Cleansed consists of a series of paintings of female bathers. Hodges style is recognizable through his black ground. In these paintings, the figure is a silhouette while the bathtub and room are built around her. In her silhouetted form, physical features from her face to her individual body parts are concealed. Even as she gets out of the bath, she is her body is not revealed. Hodges is revisiting the trope of painting of the bathing woman. Hodges allows his bathers to exist free of the eroticism historically placed on the Black female form.

About the Artist

Reggie Burrows Hodges (b. 1965) is an American artist who depicts primarily figurative subjects with an ongoing narrative that tells stories about communes, identity, and memory. His paintings begin with a black ground, in order to deal with the totality of Blackness. Rather than placing Black figures into the scene, the scene is built around the figures. 

This is Pas pu saisir la mort (Impossible to Catch Death) (2007) by Sophie Calle. It is a short film by Sophie Calle that captures her mother in her final moments. The film is 11 minutes long and was not intended to be “art”, rather, Calle intended only to stay connected with her mother as she stepped out to run some errands. Upon watching it back, Calle noticed the inability to decipher the exact moment of death, seeing it as something to share. Calle describes the video as a moving image that doesn’t move. If you would like to watch a short clip, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd7D-pBnNyY

In some ways, death is most relaxed a person can be, and Calle’s mother, in her stillness, is presented entirely at ease. One can also think of the video itself as a constant form of reassurance for Calle herself, or even those who fear death. Calle manages to both humanize and amplify the experience of losing a loved one. 

About the Artist

Sophie Calle (b. 1953) is a French conceptual artist. Her work often engages in conversations around emotional vulnerability and intimacy. She is often a writer and her writing often accompanies her works.