Arthur Jafa, a celebrated filmmaker and installation artist, dives into the artistic influences that shaped his work, from James Brown's electrifying performances to the comic artistry of Jack Kirby. He shares how his experiences, including witnessing Mahalia Jackson's powerful singing, have informed his exploration of Black identity and systemic inequities. Jafa also discusses his creative process, inspiration from legends like Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the profound question: what is art for?
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insights INSIGHT
Black Cinema as Black Music
Arthur Jafa's core artistic goal is to create "Black cinema" that evokes the same power as Black music.
He aims to explore the tension between abstract ideas and their concrete realization, focusing on Black aesthetics and visual intonation.
question_answer ANECDOTE
YouTube as Ocean, Not Archive
Jafa rejects the label of "archive king," likening his use of found footage to a musician using notes.
He views YouTube as an ocean of freely accessible material, not a traditional archive.
insights INSIGHT
Intuitive Flitting
Jafa's work intentionally blends diverse artistic languages, reflecting his intuitive and flitting creative process.
He values unintentional discoveries in his work, believing they indicate a connection to something larger.
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Arthur Jafa talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work. Jafa 's work in film, sculpture and installation explores Black being with an unflinching eye for systemic and historic inequity and violence and an exuberant harnessing of disparate manifestations of Black—and particularly African American—culture. Jafa has only garnered major art world attention in the past decade, but in that time he has been prolific in creating landmark works that have shocked, stirred and moved his audiences, including Love is the Message, the Message is Death (2016), The White Album (2018) and his latest film, BEN GAZARRA (2024, formerly known as *****), which reimagines the climactic scenes in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. He discusses how, when he was a child, he was profoundly affected by seeing James Brown in concert and reading Jack Kirby’s creations for Marvel Comics. He explains how he feels inspired and challenged by Anne Imhof’s work, and how Jean-Michel Basquiat is an ongoing point of reference. He also describes the sheer power of seeing another transformative performance as a child: Mahalia Jackson singing in a Mississippi church. Plus, he gives insight into his life in the studio and answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?
Arthur Jafa, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, 14 September-14 December; Arthur Jafa: Works from the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, until 2 March 2025; Arthur Jafa, Galerie Champ Lacombe, Biarritz, France, until 5 September.
A brush with... 
