Live Evil

By Arthur Jafa

“A lot of Black artists do uplift, but I don't really do uplift. I'm an undertaker."
—Arthur Jafa

"American artist and filmmaker/cinematographer Arthur Jafa was born in 1960 in Tupelo, Mississippi (not inconsequentially the birth-place of Elvis Presley) and raised in highly segregated Clarksdale, Mississippi. An alchemist of juxtaposition, his work of historical excavation and transpositioning through layered visuals from archive(d) material(s) has forged a rich trail through the deep terrain of Black history with its complex reverberations and cultural representations in America and around the world. Bringing together affecting memories that touch on US history, violence, and repression, the book bears witness to the deep soul and irresistible force of Black life, and stands as an emblematic epiphany-gesture, a warning sign, and a mark of radiant resistance. Art as a matter of life and death. Building off of Jafa’s monumental LUMA, Arles exhibition of the same name, this heavily illustrated, 360-page catalog-as-picture-book presents a comprehensive and deeply immersive overview of his work over several decades, and explores the philosophical, historical, and artistic implications of his practice. It features essays and a series of conversations between the artist and key practitioners working in the fields of cinema, arts, and theory."
—Herbert Pföstl

Over several decades, American filmmaker and artist Arthur Jafa has constructed a compelling body of work that defies categorization. Both powerful and lyrical, his practice combines a profoundly unsettling blend of images and histories. Bringing together affective memories that touch on US history, violence, repression, modalities of survival and how these exist in the production and dissemination of images, music, sound and time-based media, Jafa reflects on the ontology of race and Blackness. This richly illustrated catalog reproduces key works from Jafa's wide-ranging oeuvre and explores the philosophical, historical and artistic implications of his practice, featuring essays and a series of conversations between Jafa and key practitioners working in the fields of cinema, arts and theory.

2025; hardcover; 9" x 12"; 360 pages, 157 color, 98 b&w; ISBN: 9783753307916.