Grassroots x TMA: "The Future and Now" by Demond Melancon L.E. Hat

Grassroots X TMA: "The Future and Now" by Demond Melancon Limited Edition Hat

Details:
Available in two sizes.
Limited Edition of 150.
Adjustable Snapback Classic 6-Panel Hat.
Round Visor.
Raised Embroidery Logo.
Flat Embroidery Under Visor.
Satin Lining.
100% Cotton.

Custom design based on "The Future and Now" by Demond Melancon.

Demond Melancon (b. 1978) works solely with a needle and thread to sew glass beads onto canvas. He began this practice in 1992 when he first became part of a more than 200-year-old culture known as the Black Masking Culture of New Orleans. Big Chief Demond Melancon is well known for creating massive Suits as a Black Masker. His Suits are sculptural forms based on the size of his body which are composed of intricate, handsewn beadwork revealing a collective visual narrative. In 2017, Melancon pioneered an emerging contemporary art practice using the same beading techniques he's been refining over the past 30 years in the Black Masking Culture.


Demond Melancon (American, born 1978), The Future and Now, 2021, glass beads and rhinestones on canvas, 21 3/4 × 16 × 1 in. (55.2 × 40.6 × 2.5 cm), Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio), Purchased with funds from the Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy Fund and the Art Acquisition Endowment Fund, 2022.18

The Future and Now depicts Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and activist, who pioneered Afrobeat, a style of music blending African harmonies and rhythms, jazz, funk with satirical lyrics. Melancon opts for a bust-length portrait with Kuti facing front. The subject wears an elaborate crown composed of three triangles and an Egyptian scarab. White patterns and lines mask some of Kuti's face, a reference to the musician's signature white chalk paint, and he wears several ornate chain necklaces. Embedded within iconography of The Future and Now are examples of Melancon's religious background as a pan-African Rastafarian. For instance, behind Kuti is part of the Star of David in Rastafarian colors of red, black, and green.
Melancon incorporates opaque, transparent, matte, and metallic beads to give this portrait detail and a spectrum of color. Rhinestones outline the figure.

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