(portrait of the artist, Pastiche Lumumba).

Pastiche Lumumba’s conversation starting art brings well needed diversity to one of Atlanta’s most historic neighborhoods.

To borrow words from innovative curator and creator of art Pastiche Lumumba, affectionately called Lumumba, Atlanta is in need of some up-to-date art. Rhetorically expressing, “what’s at the High (Atlanta’s most famed museum) right now?” Following up in a wish-it-wasn’t-so tone “a bunch of dead artist.” Lumumba’s work did that very thing– filling a much needed space for thought-provoking contemporary art in his latest show “A Retrospective” which opened on November 11th at the Low Museum (http://thelowmuseum.com/) in the Old Fourth Ward district of Atlanta.

(The Low Museum)

A modern day Renaissance man, Lumumba dabbles in a little bit of everything. He’s an evocative writer and poet, a lethal lyricist, a mixer of catchy beats, a free-verse courier, a dexterous painter—the list goes on. Creating ambiguous and unambiguous works spanning from framed pictures and poems, memes that cleverly critique pop culture to large eye popping pieces like “One Mo ‘Gin,” a  graffiti piece reminiscent of Banksy that depicts a Black Americana-like Obama surrounded by large and small epithets that jump out at you; “Bad Bitch,” “Queen,” and “Hi Mom.”

(images via the artist’s tumblr).

Another note-worthy piece, “OPP No. 8 [Antitheft Sweatshirt],” juxtaposes black and white sweatshirts featuring chunky motifs throughout– calling to question our fixation as a culture of consumerism–as the artist puts it “moreism,” –pointing more succinctly to the recent racial profiling incidents at bourgeois (aka bougie) Madison Ave, Barneys New York (“#Brokenniggaracism” “#Kayla Phillips” “#Trayon Christian”). Most of the work displayed in “A Retrospective” came into fruition this summer–the artist immersing himself during the sweltering southern months, “I didn’t have a job for most of the summer, I just worked a lot on my art.” We can tell, Pastiche. We can tell.

For more art stimulation follow Lumumba on tumblr, twitter, and soundcloud.

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