Laurena finéus

Le dernier des touristes , 2022 - Gallery 101

Le dernier des touristes is titled after a poem by Haitian author, Kettly Mars. In her poem, Mars describes the tourist gaze and its constant search for an ‘’authentic’’ exotic experience, as she observes foreigners trying to wander into the darkest of slums looking to validate the prejudices of their conception of the ‘’third world’’.

In this exhibition, Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman and Laurena Finéus counter preconceived touristic notions of exoticism and danger attached to their Haitian and Somali-Indian cultural and ethnic identities. By taking the standpoint of an ‘oppositional gaze’, as coined by bell hooks, the Black figures shown in their compositions are neither othered nor marginalized, but in power. The unapologetic use of Black figurative imaginings commands space, gaze, and narratives.

Péralte sighting’s / Birth of an Idol ,Acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022 (55x84’’)

Decadent terror: Bal à Cité Soleil,  Acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022 (48x72’’)

Blood writings, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022 (36x48’’)

Nou deja gen kasav, nou deja gen kafe, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022 (48x72’’)

Le Jardin de Mackandal , Acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022 (36x48’’)