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Francks Deceus

Haiti

Francks F. Décéus was born in Cap-Haitian, Haiti 1966. He currently resides and maintains a studio in Brooklyn, NY. Décéus received a B.A. in sociology from Long Island University, NY, in 1992.

Décéus has studied printmaking at the venerated Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, and in June of 2007, he completed a month-long printmaking residency in Gentilly, France. He was the recipient, in February 2008, of the Samella Lewis Award for Painting in the Hampton University Museum’s juried exhibition, “New Power Generation 2008.”

Throughout his artistic career, Décéus’ work has marched chronologically from his childhood in Haiti, through his immersion into his new urban community as an immigrant, and recently, to his meditations on a conceptual vision of humanity. He has always been more interested in exploring themes and issues than in making definitive statements or creating a visual language with his art, and his work resonates with political and sociological content.

Stylistically his work incorporates many of the influences and aesthetic forms of artists like Norman Lewis and Howarddena Pindell and reverberates with some of the artistic strains of his native Haiti. His modernist style combines figurative, abstract, and layered elements and relies heavily on a simplification of form and function. A semiotic economy, minimalist use of imagery, and a deliberately limited palette range within a series of works characterize his artwork.

His solo exhibitions include N’Namdi Contemporary Miami and the Pounder-Kone Art Space LA. TAG Gallery, LA. Salina Gallery, LIU Brooklyn, NY.

Group exhibitions include the Brooklyn Museum, NY; Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts (MOCADA), Brooklyn, NY; The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN; Gallery M, New York, NY; and Hampton University, Hampton, VA.

The works of Décéus have entered numerous public and private collections, including the International African American Museum in Charleston SC, and Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, NY. Xavier University, New Orleans, LA, Schomburg Center, New York Public Library, NY, Actor, Anthony Mackie, and Grammy Award-winning artist Jill Scott.