We're celebrating Black History Month in Still Life this month, and today's entry focuses on Martin Puryear's sculpture "C.F.A.O." (2006)

http://tinyletter.com/still-life/ 
Puryear's sculpture references Ngil masks from the Fang people, turned it away from the viewer, and toward an intricate mess of scaffolding.

The sculpture *materializes* colonial history.
Puryear's sculpture references Ngil masks from the Fang people, turned it away from the viewer, and toward an intricate mess of scaffolding.The sculpture *materializes* colonial history.
Puryear's sculpture references Ngil masks from the Fang people, turned it away from the viewer, and toward an intricate mess of scaffolding.The sculpture *materializes* colonial history.
Puryear's sculpture references Ngil masks from the Fang people, turned it away from the viewer, and toward an intricate mess of scaffolding.The sculpture *materializes* colonial history.
Not only were artworks like this stolen from African people, they also inspired a massive shift in modern art. Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, Brancusi, and others were all inspired by African masks and sculpture.

There's no "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (1907) w/o this influence.
Not only were artworks like this stolen from African people, they also inspired a massive shift in modern art. Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, Brancusi, and others were all inspired by African masks and sculpture.There's no "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (1907) w/o this influence.
Not only were artworks like this stolen from African people, they also inspired a massive shift in modern art. Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, Brancusi, and others were all inspired by African masks and sculpture.There's no "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (1907) w/o this influence.
So what do we do about it? There's a growing movement for repatriation: https://the1a.org/segments/art-repatriation-museums/
Museums Are Filled With Stolen African Art. Is It Time To Return It? | 1A

It's estimated that 90% of African heritage is held abroad. Will Western museums succumb to increasing pressure to repatriate what doesn't belong to them?

https://the1a.org/segments/art-repatriation-museums/
Some museums are collaborating with African communities on exhibitions: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/one_egungun
Some people are returning looted art... https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31605284
The man who returned his grandfather’s looted art

More than a century ago, British troops looted thousands of works of art from the Benin Empire - one man decided to return his grandfather's loot.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31605284
...even as legacy museums are still dragging their feet, inflaming diplomatic tensions between nation states.
How do we respond to a unjust history? That's the animating question we're left with when we examine Puryear's sculpture.
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