"A big part of what I do is just compiling images." | Artist Arthur Jafa | Louisiana Channel

In connection with his groundbreaking exhibition MagnumB, Los Angeles-based artist Arthur Jafa visited the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, in July 2021 and gave a talk about his work and relentless collection of images. We documented this profound and, at the same time, easy-going conversation with curator Mathias Ussing Seeberg that opened up the universe and practice of one of the fascinating artists of our time.
Arthur Jafa (b. 1960) is an American Mississippi-born visual artist, film director, and cinematographer. Jafa has exhibited widely, including at the Hirshhorn in Los Angeles, Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Tate Liverpool in Liverpool, Serpentine Galleries in London and lately at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark. His work as a cinematographer with directors such as Spike Lee and Stanley Kubrick has been notable. His work on ‘Daughters of the Dust’ (1991) won the ‘Best Cinematography’ Award at Sundance. In 2019, Jafa was awarded the Golden Lion for best artist at the Venice Biennale for ‘The White Album’. Jafa has also worked as a director of photography on several music videos, including for Solange Knowles and Jay-Z. Jafa co-founded TNEG with Malik Sayeed, a “motion picture studio whose goal is to create a black cinema as culturally, socially and economically central to the 21st century as was black music to the 20th century.” He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Arthur Jafa was interviewed by Mathias Ussing Seeberg in July 2021 in connection with his exhibition MagnumB at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark.
Camera: Rasmus Quistgaard
Edited by: Rasmus Quistgaard
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
#ArthurJafa #Magnumb #LouisianaMuseum
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[@grizzlesnort]

(and those gold boots are everything )

[@straightshooter9908]

Amazing to know that there are other people who do similar creative hobbies as you. Love the segment

[@sunimullen.studio]

I always appreciate when Jafa takes the time to express himself and his ideas/ the objectivity of viewing and understanding. It’s like complete self awareness and being informed. Between him and Toni Morrison, I aspire and continue to think and write and create through these ideas and concepts.

[@atkiltgeleta6077]

J Dilla 'Clapper' ///// m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/mn6ndIOiar-WgK8

[@EleniEliades_]

Brilliant artist and eloquent speaker of Truth.💡🎵☀

[@KM-mv1ho]

This was incredibly informative!

[@Krishna-nb9mq]

i've seen a couple of his interviews before, but he really flows beautifully in this one.

[@yvanguillaume8975]

I love how Arthur broke down Ridley Scott's Alien, a cinematic masterpiece , like a dissection ...

[@benten3524]

Arthur is dropping Gems!!!!

[@vidjoe8320]

Great Great Great Guys. I'm just so sorry i didnt know about Arthur Jafa until now. Thank you Louisana Channel. (And the interviewer Mathias Ussing Seeberg is great for letting him speak but yet engaging).

[@vivienneb6199]

This was so good!

[@tomford1376]

Thanks for the inspiration. I need this right now.

[@YeshuaReal]

The master.

[@eligoitein6499]

absoluely love this guy

[@Moonthre]

I think I found some inspiration

[@juddsmith7007]

Ridley Scott's 'Alien' as a case-study for Blackness in the White Imagination... wow (23:20)

[@thaxtonwaters8561]

I've been saying "Black People are the canary in the coalmine." for years. Excellent discussion.

[@real_life2021]

Legend

[@Achrafmehboob]

I really wish he did put White album on KZbin so we can all experience it

[@petzelgallery]

👍👍

[@atkiltgeleta6077]

J Dilla 'Clapper' ///// m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/mn6ndIOiar-WgK8

[@presterjohn1697]

best

[@ed-od9sd]

interesting talk but im still not sold on why the alien suit man is not an accident that he was casted for it. I watched the documentary of the making and the decision was made solely based on the physicality of his long body.

[@ed-od9sd]

he somehow made gold shoes and prematures daddy belly work together ok.

[@thomasbje3843]

What is it about black music? Its the way the beat is been played. Founded in Africa.

[@gamarsaid2056]

9999

[@SafetyPropaganda]

While it’s certainly not Jafa’s fault that the piece gets associated with BLM, his career most definitely benefited from the moment it was released in. I like that he’s trying to distance his work from specific political movements but the ugly truth about the art world is they will never let him. For the art world, politics is marketing. It is a ruthless financial marketplace that perpetually shrouds itself beneath the veil of allegedly emancipatory politics.

[@SafetyPropaganda]

While I’m not a huge fan of his work, I do really like a lot of what Jafa says

[@andiswabuthelezi4460]

I love his art but I hate everything he saying in this interview . I dont agree with it at al !