About the artist
Zak Ové is a London based multi-disciplinary artist working in film, sculpture and photography to reclaim old world mythologies in new world source materials and technologies. His fascination with the interplay between antiquity and the future is inspired by masking rituals and traditions of Trinidadian carnival that is itself rooted in a struggle for emancipation. Ové’s work is in celebration of the power of play, the juxtaposition of parody and sacred ritual and the blurring of edges between reality and fantasy, flesh and spirit. His use of non-traditional materials: copper, wood, Victoriana and other found materials, situates the work in the metropoles of Europe and the Americas where they merge and mutate into endless possibilities and unexpected identities.
selected works
past exhibitions
Johnny Abrahams Ibrahim El-Salahi Semiha Berksoy Bram Bogart Zak Ové Masaaki Yamada
Leonardo Drew Ibrahim El-Salahi Hassan Hajjaj Chris Ofili Zak Ové
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Zak Ové
THE INVISIBLE MAN AND THE MASQUE OF BLACKNESS
Daniel Crews-Chubb Zak Ové Caroline Achaintre Ben Enwonwu Che Lovelace
Playing Mas
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair London
Ibrahim El-Salahi Zak Ové
Hassan Hajjaj Zak Ové
Chaos into Clarity: Re-Possessing a Funktioning Utopia
Curated by Shannon Ayers Holden
Boyle Family Kadar Brock Biggs & Collings Leonardo Drew Marcus Harvey Henry Krokatsis Ayan Farah Jason Martin Zak Ové
Ululation
Matthew Burrows Biggs & Collings Heywood & Condie Hassan Hajjaj Marcus Harvey Henry Krokatsis Oliver Marsden Jonathan Baldock Dan Coombs Keith Coventry Howard Dyke Neal Gall Tom Gallant Steve Goddard Paul Housley Phillip Lai Penny Lamb Hew Locke Jason Martin Ryan Mosley Zak Ové Michael Samuels Chris Succo Dolly Thompsett Gavin Turk Douglas White
London Twelve
Heywood & Condie Marcus Harvey Henry Krokatsis Penny Lamb Zak Ové Keith Coventry Hew Locke Neal Tait
British
An exploration of Britain's cultural identity
selected press/news
Zak Ové
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Ibrahim El-Salahi Zak Ové
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British Museum permanently installs first Caribbean art commission
Zak Ové
interview
Zak Ové
video
Zak Ové
BBC CHANNEL 4 NEWS: Zak Ove tackling slavery through Caribbean sculpture - Jon Snow (30.03.2017)
For the first time in its history the British Museum is putting on permanent display the work of a Caribbean sculptor in its African collection.
Zak Ove – drawing heavily on his own Trinidadian Irish heritage, has tackled the story of slavery by viewing it through the traditional Island Carnival, an exuberant annual parade that weaves together the story of slavery, rebellion and eventual liberation.
Zak Ové
Black and Blue: The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness @ Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2017-2018
Zak Ové
Black and Blue: The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Somerset House, London
Modern Forms
Zak Ové interviewed by Nick Hackworth, 2016
