Excellent Point, Kiddo

If everything is as it should be, a child believes that anything is possible--that his towel cape can save him from a bed-to-floor fall, and that his drawing of a man with one arm four sizes bigger than the other is the start of artistic greatness. And if the child...

By Merritt Martin

January 13, 2011

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If everything is as it should be, a child believes that anything is possible--that his towel cape can save him from a bed-to-floor fall, and that his drawing of a man with one arm four sizes bigger than the other is the start of artistic greatness. And if the child believes, well, then it is so. But sometimes a childhood doesn't provide room for fun or fantasy...or wide-eyed belief. Underoos are outgrown before they're received and toys are replaced with trials. Atlanta's Fahama Pecou revisits younger years via his exhibition of paintings, HARD 2 DEATH: Second Childhood. The works feature Pecou in children's clothing and "posturing" and address what he finds to be a common longing in black male culture: recapturing "a misplaced or never fully realized childhood." See the powerful pieces, as well as Stephen Lapthisophon's Spelling Lesson and Joshua Saunders' Juvenile Intention Center, at Conduit Gallery, 1626 C Hi Line Drive, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays through February 12. Call 214-939-0064 or visit conduitgallery.com.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Starts: Jan. 8. Continues through Feb. 12, 2011

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Merritt Martin has written for the Dallas Observer for over two decades. She has also contributed to Eater, DMN and USA Today. In addition to arts and culture writing, she spends entirely too much time extolling the virtues of pears, black clothing, and her cat Kenneth.

Contact: Merritt Martin

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