John Lie a Fo - Screen print, Title, Apari leoni des drien. - Sold

John Lie A Fo was born in Suriname. He left the country after the December Murders. He moved to French Guiana but spends a lot of time in Europe. His work is often politically engaged. Violence, and violence against a people in particular, can provoke his anger. He calls his painting 'Cri du Maroni' his personal 'Guernica' (after Picasso's political masterpiece). The culture of the interior of 'the Guianas' and Caribbean culture in general encourage him to refer to them in his work. Within that broader context, this 'serpent' is reasonably restrained.
How much anger can you put into a relatively small screen print? John Lie A Fo (Paramaribo, 1945) has done reasonably well. If looks could kill... If body language could curse... The work resembles a variation on the Adam and Eve story. Yet here, the serpent has already put his diabolical seduction skills into practice. The woman confronts the man with this. A painful moment. Of course, the story is more universal and is likely about the relationship between people in general, about what people do to one another.
The work of John Lie A Fo is in fact figurative, but he distorts reality with elementary, quasi-primitive forms. These forms are often a visualization of feelings: the woman's round body unleashes rage, the angular man clenchs his teeth and restrains himself. The colors are usually elementary as well: red, blue, black, and light yellow. The bright colors intensify the contrasts and define the scene for the story. Moreover, rage knows no nuance, not even in color.