Photos: CJones\Chukes
Chukes, one of the nation’s most dynamic artists in mixed media, painting, and sculpture, marks Black History Month with a moving collection inspired by the recent cases of police-involved violence that ignited mass civil protests across the nation.
Titled “Identity Theft,” the collection is a combination of the artist’s revolutionary vision and his love of soul and jazz music.
Born in Vallejo, CA and raised in San Jose, Chukes began creating artworks at a very young age. Although he attended California College for the Arts and Claremont Graduate University, he considers himself to be a self-taught artist. Chukes’ works with a number of mediums including clay, bronze, wood, and other materials to create exaggerated expressions of the human form. While placing emphasis on the body, Chukes incorporates color (through a secret technique) giving his sculptures a rich smooth texture and a surreal identity.
“I concentrate on capturing emotional sensations of the body rather than its physical presence. Females play a strong role in my creation. I believe there is a magnificent sensitivity in women unlike anything I know and capturing this sensation gives my work meaning.”
Chukes’ work has appeared in many galleries around the world – from the Boribana Museum in Senegal, West Africa, to the Hearne Fine Art Gallery in Little Rock, Arkansas, to the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. His work has also been featured in Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine. Collectors of his art include the likes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, advertising mogul Carol H. Williams, and actress CCH Pounder.
“There are times when the artistic voice needs become so loud the ears of the world can no longer ignore its cries,” Chukes said. “I began working on this body of work during the beginning of 2016. I initially created this work as a protest toward the televised brutality and killings of Black people and people of color. These killings were not only happening here in America but throughout the world.
“As I look back at my own history, as well as researching world history, I reflect on what I have been taught about myself and other darker-skinned people of the world. The work in this exhibit is my artistic representation of what happens when people or nations of people are stripped of their indigenous identity and re-taught a history that historically filters the truth and presents an incorrect version of past and present injustices. This filtered history, as I call it, is being used against us as a weapon of self-destruction. I believe the Identity Theft exhibit will increase the volume for positive change that the world needs to hear.”
To learn more about Chukes and view his portfolio, visit his website.
