AKG Newsworthy NOLA
2023 #3
Saturday, February 25, 2023

This Mardi Gras day we had the privilege and honor to walk with Big Chief Shaka Zulu and the Golden Feather Hunters Tribe on Carnival Day.

Shaka debuted his 2023 suit, The Mosasaur, from Angola to Louisiana.  

We have exhibited Shaka's art since 2022, entire suits and elements of deconstructed suits created over the years.

It was truly an experience of a lifetime and one that will not be forgotten.

Thank you Shaka and Naima. 

-Angela

photo credit : danielle c. miles

"Big Chief Shaka Zulu’s suit, with its prehistoric fossil sea monsters, its Louisiana magnolia blossoms, and its allusion to slavery, brings our Earth history, human history, and American history together in the art and

culture of New Orleans."

-Louis Jacobs

Mosasaurs and Mardi Gras: Smithsonian's ancient creature exhibit inspires Chief Shaka Zulu's Mardi Gras suit

February 24, 2023

DALLAS (SMU) Internationally-known for his exquisite Black Masking Mardi Gras suits, Chief Shaka Zulu got his inspiration for this year’s suit from an unlikely source: fossils of ancient creatures discovered in Angola.

Chief Shaka saw the remains from the large, prehistoric marine reptiles in an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The fossils from the Cretaceous Era were found by SMU paleontologists Louis L. Jacobs and Michael J. Polcyn and others. Chief Shaka was particularly struck by the fact that Mosasaurs -- the same type of giant sea creatures featured in the “Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas” exhibit -- had also been discovered in Louisiana.

Considering the history of the slave trade between Angola and Louisiana in the 18th and 19th centuries, and knowing that his wife’s ancestry traces back to Angola, Chief Shaka found historic inspiration for this year’s suit. It was unveiled on Fat Tuesday (Feb. 21) for the first time.

"From Angola to Louisiana, history is repeating itself," Chief Shaka noted. 

 

Jacobs and Polcyn worked with Chief Shaka to provide him with scientifically accurate 3-D images of large mosasaur teeth for the suit.

"Zulu’s suit, with its prehistoric fossil sea monsters, its Louisiana magnolia blossoms, and its allusion to slavery, brings our Earth history, human history, and American history together in the art and culture of New Orleans," said Jacobs. 

Chief Shaka is a master of Black Masking suit design, an art form specific to New Orleans, which originated as part of the Indigenous and African culture in the city. 

Carnival 2023 Video

CURRENT

TONY SAVOIE

CARTOGRAPHIC MEDITATIONS

ARTIST STATEMENT

Sometimes things seem to make more sense from above. A collection of aerial photos was the starting point for these new pieces.

Some are my own camera phone pictures taken from airplanes. Some are Google Earth screenshots or historical photos available

on-line. Others are ancient ruins, mining operations, housing developments, battle plans, Roman outposts, utopian city plans, bomb debris, shanty towns, oil spills, and weather radar imagery.  What has been disturbed can be transformed. There’s freedom to make notes, change perspectives, or become completely abstract.


It's a hard time for dreamers. Embracing the chaos of the world and in myself, I'm looking for beauty, and for the light that connects us all.

- T. Savoie

show page

UPCOMING

WOMENS HISTORY MONTH

In recognition of the stellar Women Artists we represent, throughout March we will celebrate the contributions of Women in the Arts.

ANNE BACHELIER - RACHEL DAVID - ELENA ERICKSON ESTELLA FRANSBERGEN - MICHELLE GAGLIANO

LYNN GOLDSMITH -TERRI HALLMAN - TAJAH OLSON KATARZYNA OWCZAREK - MARION BARNES - MARLENE ROSE MARGARITA SIKORSKAIA - JOHANNA ZJAWINSKA - EVOLVE ARTIST RESIDENCY REESE JOHANSON


click artist name to explore their works...

Angela King

Gallery Director

Gallery number: 504-524-8211

Mobile: 504-427-9746

email me

Angela King Gallery | Website
Facebook  Instagram