Fez — The Residents’ Gallery at the Montresso Art Foundation in Marrakech is currently hosting an exhibition by American artist Fahamu Pecou, on view through March 21.
Known as a major figure in contemporary Afro-American art, Pecou presents a new body of work that reinterprets myth, history, and identity through a diasporic lens.
Living and working in Atlanta, Pecou draws from the city’s deep cultural and political history to shape an artistic practice that is both reflective and resistant. His work engages with the legacy of African American memory, weaving personal narrative with collective consciousness.
Influenced by literary figures such as Toni Morrison, Pecou positions art as a space for reclamation and self-definition.
In this exhibition, he revisits the myth of Icarus, relocating the ancient Greek tale to the historical Kingdom of Kongo. Rather than portraying Icarus as a symbol of hubris and downfall, Pecou transforms him into a metaphor for the Black condition. In his reinterpretation, flight becomes an act of elevation rather than punishment, and the figure of Icarus embodies resilience, memory, and spiritual transcendence.
Through painting and drawing, Pecou constructs a dense visual language that merges hip-hop culture, Kongo cosmology, and contemporary iconography.
References range from Michael Jordan to Nkisi figures, creating a dialogue across time and geography. Central to the exhibition is the recurring motif of wings, symbolizing both creative freedom and the bridge between material and spiritual realms.
At the heart of Pecou’s work lies the idea of transmission. By embodying Icarus himself, he sacralizes the myth as a narrative in which Black bodies can rise without being consumed. From his studio at Jardin Rouge, the artist maps a cosmogram of interconnected worlds, inviting viewers to imagine a cycle where endings give way to renewal and where cultural memory becomes a source of transformation.
