FRANCKS DECEUS
Carib-Olympics
Carib-Olympics
Francks Deceus
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the artist's inspiration
The swimming competition you see in front of you is filled with joy, challenge, desire and hopes. As you’ll see from the flags of the caps, the swimmers represent different countries. In this particular race, the protagonist is a Haitian swimmer, raising his hand out of the water and pointing to the sky. It speaks to the historic moment of the Haitian revolution and what it means.
This sculpture celebrates the powerful and successful movements across the world that have worked – and continue to work – to dismantle systems of racial injustice in the hopes of creating a new reality.
It does so by focusing on a key moment in global history that is often overlooked: the Haitian Revolution.
I was born in Cap-Haïtien, which used to be called Cap-Français. It was there in 1793 that the Emancipation Proclamation declared “a new order of things will be born” and that the “old servitude will disappear”. It was there in 1804 that the independent state of Haiti came into existence.
The uprising, which began in 1791, is the only known uprising by enslaved people in human history that led to the founding of a state that was both free from enslavement and ruled by non-whites and former enslaved people. It was also a critical moment in the broader abolition, emancipation and independence movement, from the United Kingdom’s Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807 and Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 Emancipation Proclamation to the independence movements across the Caribbean, Americas and West Africa in the 20th and 21st centuries.
CAPITOL PARK, detroit
june 2024
Haiti has repeatedly been dealt a difficult hand. The historic enslavement of its people left the new independent nation unbearably poor. But this painting reminds us that anything is achievable if we pull together and come together, under one banner. That’s represented by the swimmers in the Jamaican caps, close to the Haitian swimmer – for people like Dutty Boukman, enslaved in Jamaica, who played a key role in the struggle for independence for Haiti, ultimately sacrificing his life for it.
At first glance, the work suggests a state of free flow and exhilaration. But the context of water is important. In part, the water holds a particular meaning to anyone descended from the millions of people who were enslaved and forced onto ships, crossing the Middle Passage to come to the Americas. Many didn’t survive the enforced journey. The context of the swimming pool specifically speaks to the more modern segregation enforced in public spaces that prohibited a lot of Black people from accessing opportunity.
It’s why you see the cautionary tape in black and white at the bottom, speaking to the barriers and challenges of our circumstances.
I want to reclaim the water. The swimming pool shows that when the barriers of segregation come down and there is opportunity, breakthrough success follows. And I believe that “if you touch the ocean, you touch the world” – because these bodies of water connect all of us. The water is ours. That’s why you see a state of free flow and exhilaration, inspired by our Haitian ancestors. It is not a uniform journey but a dynamic one.
The overflowing floating tubes are needed by some for support, but not by most, while others play with them. It is about the individual finding their own path in our joint endeavour to be liberated. To overcome our obstacles and fears and experience freedom. And even as we have a shared direction, we have our own journeys, and it is through the learning of those different experiences that we discover empathy and solidarity.
I hope more people learn about the earth-shaking and history-making event that was the Haitian Revolution. I also hope this work inspires you to be curious about the journey of others, which I believe is the foundation and animating spirit of solidarity.
THEME
GOOD TROUBLE – ASSERTING OUR HUMANITY
Good Trouble honours the global efforts of people to assert their humanity. This theme celebrates the many powerful and successful movements that have worked to dismantle systems of racial injustice across the world, which have been in deep conversation with one another – creating a new reality for us all.
THEME
GOOD TROUBLE – ASSERTING OUR HUMANITY
Good Trouble honours the global efforts of people to assert their humanity. This theme celebrates the many powerful and successful movements that have worked to dismantle systems of racial injustice across the world, which have been in deep conversation with one another – creating a new reality for us all.
The swimming competition you see in front of you is filled with joy, challenge, desire and hopes. As you’ll see from the flags of the caps, the swimmers represent different countries. In this particular race, the protagonist is a Haitian swimmer, raising his hand out of the water and pointing to the sky. It speaks to the historic moment of the Haitian revolution and what it means.
This sculpture celebrates the powerful and successful movements across the world that have worked – and continue to work – to dismantle systems of racial injustice in the hopes of creating a new reality.
It does so by focusing on a key moment in global history that is often overlooked: the Haitian Revolution.
I was born in Cap-Haïtien, which used to be called Cap-Français. It was there in 1793 that the Emancipation Proclamation declared “a new order of things will be born” and that the “old servitude will disappear”. It was there in 1804 that the independent state of Haiti came into existence.
francks deceus
Born in Cap-Haitien, Haiti and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Francks infuses his works with symbolic figures, minimalist tones, and curated space to bring awareness to social issues present in our societies. Rooted in his experience as a Black man and Haitian immigrant raised in an urban context in the United States, he explores the tension between self-actualization and social structures. Through conceptual, abstract and figurative painting, collage and drawing he examine a layered experience of identity. Francks received a B.A. in sociology from Long Island University, New York, in 1992, before studying printmaking at the venerated Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop and completed a month-long residency in Gentilly, France in 2007. His solo exhibitions include the Pounder-Kone Art Space, Los Angeles; Tilford Art Group, Los Angeles. His work has been featured in several group exhibitions including the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts (MOCADA), Brooklyn; The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis; and Hampton University, Virginia. Collections that feature his work include Xavier University, New Orleans, and the Schomburg Center, New York Public Library.
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
The uprising, which began in 1791, is the only known uprising by enslaved people in human history that led to the founding of a state that was both free from enslavement and ruled by non-whites and former enslaved people. It was also a critical moment in the broader abolition, emancipation and independence movement, from the United Kingdom’s Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807 and Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 Emancipation Proclamation to the independence movements across the Caribbean, Americas and West Africa in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Haiti has repeatedly been dealt a difficult hand. The historic enslavement of its people left the new independent nation unbearably poor. But this painting reminds us that anything is achievable if we pull together and come together, under one banner. That’s represented by the swimmers in the Jamaican caps, close to the Haitian swimmer – for people like Dutty Boukman, enslaved in Jamaica, who played a key role in the struggle for independence for Haiti, ultimately sacrificing his life for it.
At first glance, the work suggests a state of free flow and exhilaration. But the context of water is important. In part, the water holds a particular meaning to anyone descended from the millions of people who were enslaved and forced onto ships, crossing the Middle Passage to come to the Americas. Many didn’t survive the enforced journey. The context of the swimming pool specifically speaks to the more modern segregation enforced in public spaces that prohibited a lot of Black people from accessing opportunity.
It’s why you see the cautionary tape in black and white at the bottom, speaking to the barriers and challenges of our circumstances.
I want to reclaim the water. The swimming pool shows that when the barriers of segregation come down and there is opportunity, breakthrough success follows. And I believe that “if you touch the ocean, you touch the world” – because these bodies of water connect all of us. The water is ours. That’s why you see a state of free flow and exhilaration, inspired by our Haitian ancestors. It is not a uniform journey but a dynamic one.
The overflowing floating tubes are needed by some for support, but not by most, while others play with them. It is about the individual finding their own path in our joint endeavour to be liberated. To overcome our obstacles and fears and experience freedom. And even as we have a shared direction, we have our own journeys, and it is through the learning of those different experiences that we discover empathy and solidarity.
I hope more people learn about the earth-shaking and history-making event that was the Haitian Revolution. I also hope this work inspires you to be curious about the journey of others, which I believe is the foundation and animating spirit of solidarity.
explore the theme
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
FRANCKS DECEUS
Born in Cap-Haitien, Haiti and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Francks infuses his works with symbolic figures, minimalist tones, and curated space to bring awareness to social issues present in our societies. Rooted in his experience as a Black man and Haitian immigrant raised in an urban context in the United States, he explores the tension between self-actualization and social structures. Through conceptual, abstract and figurative painting, collage and drawing he examine a layered experience of identity. Francks received a B.A. in sociology from Long Island University, New York, in 1992, before studying printmaking at the venerated Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop and completed a month-long residency in Gentilly, France in 2007. His solo exhibitions include the Pounder-Kone Art Space, Los Angeles; Tilford Art Group, Los Angeles. His work has been featured in several group exhibitions including the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts (MOCADA), Brooklyn; The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis; and Hampton University, Virginia. Collections that feature his work include Xavier University, New Orleans, and the Schomburg Center, New York Public Library.
explore the theme
For everyone. For you. By all of us. Join us.
For everyone. For you.
By all of us. Join us.
PURPOSE
in our relationship with ourselves.
WORTHINESS
I am worthy of love dignity and respect.
AWARENESS
I know how I see the world and where it comes from.
BELIEF
I believe I have something valuable to offer.
PURPOSE
I know what inspires me and what I want to do.