Corbel 1

The figure leans forward as if bowing to receive the gold chains and medals around his neck. His skin consists of finely ground coal, a material redolent of labour and combustibility. But the fixity of his posture, with arms held back, also suggests a trophy on a wall or a figurehead on a ship. Derek Fordjour has created an ambivalent portrait of a contemporary Black man garlanded with emblems of success, some of which relate to athletic prowess and some of which suggest a performer’s ‘bling’. These necklaces and medals are signs of extraordinary achievement in the face of injustice and inequality. But Fordjour also intimates that they represent a weight of stereotype and expectation: a burden that this figure must bear indefinitely. The work’s title, Corbel, is a word for an architectural projection that supports weight.