Francks Deceus

Mumbo Jumbo NYC#10 - Ironic Figurative Painting with Orange, and Blue Colors

2020

Francks Deceus’ “Mumbo Jumbo BK#1” is a 20 x 16 inch acrylic paint, color pencil, and collage painting on canvas. The main colors are pink, blue and red. The image is very playful, showing a man dressed as a superhero standing next to an entangled fire hose. The title “Mumbo Jumbo, is inspired by Ishmael Reed’s book under the same titled, where he attempted to capsulate the complexities of the African American experience. For Deceus is about capturing the complexity of his experience as an immigrant from Haiti back in the 1970s. A series of very colorful and playful works, focusing on the adventures of one figure named “Cappy”. The name is derived from Deceus family home town, Cap Haitien. Cappy is Deceus alter-ego; The images are intentionally drawn in the vein of comic strips with Cappy as the superhero. He goes out in the world and has to solve the kind of frightening experiences Deceus knew about as a Haitian immigrant, which in the paintings are ironically represented by the hose/snake snarling Cappy. Stylistically Deceus work incorporates many of the aesthetic forms of artists like Norman Lewis and Howardena...

Francks Deceus’ Mumbo Jumbo #5 is part of the Mumbo Jumbo series the artist has been working on since 2019. The artist writes “As a Haitian immigrant while...

Francks Deceus’s Mumbo Jumbo series comes alive in this dynamic and visually arresting painting. The composition features swirling ribbons of orange and cream, fragmented fire hose m...

This vibrant painting, featuring faceless figures on yellow rafts floating across calm blue waters, captures the artist's reflection on his Spring Break experience—a pivotal moment d...