"The Congo has a tradition of power figures called Nkisi literally, medicine from heaven, medicine brought from heaven by a Mojo which means a soul from Heaven. This medicine can be herbs, ideas or talents brought to earth and shared with the living to bring health and joy to society," says Crown Heights-based sculptor and artist Sol Sax.
Sol Sax's latest exhibit, "Medicine from Heaven: How African-American Culture was used to Cure the USA," will be on display beginning Thursday, June 19-August 23, at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Skylight Gallery, located 1368 Fulton Street, 3rd fl.
"African-American culture has been getting a lot of help from our ancestors in heaven and the nature angels those ancestors celebrated. The Blues and spirituals, Jazz and rock and roll, Soul and Disco to Hip Hop today, all of these cultural expressions have operated as medicine to American Society.
"This Juneteenth we will celebrate the culture soldiers," says Sol. "I celebrate these African American Ancestral Archetypes as 'Soul'sain't" the power figures and objects are assemblages of visual and verbal puns."
