Zakee Kuduro
Waiting for Henry
Oil on canvas
32 x 33"

Note: This artwork is currently in transit from Brazil. You may still bid.

Zakee Kudro's artwork will be in the exhibition "The Source of Self-Regard" in the InLiquid Gallery October - November 2025 .

Artist Bio:

My earliest encounters with art were unconventional but deeply formative. Growing up in Southwest Philadelphia, I worked in my family's funeral home as an embalmer and makeup artist. As a child, I learned the delicate art of honoring life's final moments-where the details, the stillness, and the profound beauty of life's fragility left an indelible mark on me. These experiences shaped my understanding of art as a medium to express the intricate balance between life and death, instilling in me an eye for detail and a reverence for the sacredness of each passing moment.

However, my art is not an observational reflection from a detached perspective. Having been a juvenile prisoner, my work directly engages with the social, political, and cultural complexities surrounding us. My work represents my emotional and intellectual responses to these themes by deconstructing beauty, struggle, dreams, fantasy, and faith. Each piece I create is a dialogue between color, texture, and form, blending abstraction with figurative elements. I use a bold yet restrained palette, using layered techniques that reveal depth and complexity. These layers invite the viewer to look beyond the surface, peel back meanings, and engage with the intricacies beneath.
Creating art for me is an emotional process, yet it is also intentional. My unconscious mind is the driving force behind the work, but I consciously merge traditional techniques with innovative approaches, allowing recurring themes to surface in new ways. The subject matter of each piece dictates the materials and the form, making each project distinct yet connected-a chapter in an evolving story.
A central focus of my work is the exploration of faith and religion and how these belief systems influence our individual and collective identities. I question how spirituality intersects with culture, power, and beauty, creating pieces that explore the tension between the sacred and the secular. I intend to open dialogues about faith-challenging institutionalized belief systems while encouraging viewers to reflect on their relationships with spirituality and the structures surrounding it.
To me, art is a means of pushing boundaries and generating spaces for dialogue. Through my paintings, I aim to provoke thought and inspire emotional resonance, urging viewers to reconsider their relationship with the world and their place within it. By blending abstraction with figurative imagery, I strive to create bridges between different cultural experiences, fostering a deeper understanding of our shared humanity.
Much of my work centers on underrepresented voices and untold stories, celebrating the resilience and complexity of the human spirit. I am fascinated by how beauty can emerge from our most challenging moments, and my art attempts to capture that paradox. Whether exploring themes of faith, culture, or survival, my pieces serve as invitations to dive into the layered emotions, histories, and meanings that define our lives.

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