Titled Les dompteurs de nuages, his solo show – while unveiling through different mediums – narrates a facet of humanity’s history. Nkot recalls the past through the use of archival photographs and questions its impact on current times by confronting the images with scenes of the present day.
The cotton flower has a strong symbolic value, both historical and economical. Simultaneously, it carries in itself the weight of slavery, the Industrial Revolution, the beginnings of capitalism and environmental issues due to intensive farming. Jean David Nkot, whose art invokes both the violence in the world and the human condition, chooses the motif of cotton as a commodity and the allegory for the domination of human beings over other human beings and humans over nature.
Titled Les dompteurs de nuages, his solo show – while unveiling through different mediums – narrates a facet of humanity’s history. Nkot recalls the past through the use of archival photographs and questions its impact on current times by confronting the images with scenes of the present day.
The installation Le chemin de fer (Underground Railroad) (2023) is part of this back-and-forth movement between past and present. It is also rooted in a questioning of North/South relations on the African continent. By mixing archival and contemporary images, Nkot creates a dialogue between the origin of the geographical division within the continent and the prospects for its emancipation.
On the canvas, the archival photographs sometimes mix with the map that features within Nkot’s portraits. If he used to underline the influence of territories over individuals, he highlights now the consequences of History. When the works’ title mentions the fashion universe – www// ballot fashion//.fr.org, #@#chic gl@mour## – Nkot relates cotton growing to the final product, linking the material to the textile industry.
Thus, Les dompteurs de nuages dives into the heart of cotton fields to address the impact, stakes and the origin of capitalism through the history of cotton, the history of humanity and the history of the working class. Ultimately, Nkot asks: “What are we really learning from this bilateral relationship in these so-called contemporary times?”
