-
SHARE
- X (Twitter)
Tony Cokes is noted for creating video and graphic works that re-contextualize historical and cultural moments. Integrating text with colorful monochromatic or graphic backgrounds, he embeds social criticism into his works by sampling and reassembling musical and visual fragments like a DJ. He draws on a diverse range of references, including moving images, pop music, journalism, writings in philosophy, and social media, attuning his practice to current events while engaging in research into racial issues in popular culture, one of his long-standing concerns. Cokes takes care to adjust his works based on where and how they will be exhibited.
The Queen is Dead … Fragment pays tribute to Aretha Franklin (1942–2018), reflecting the growing appreciation of her legacy as a champion of civil rights. The work was first exhibited in 2019 as part of an installation themed on blackness and cultural production, held at the Los Angeles residence of Modernist architect Paul Revere Williams. Here, The Queen is Dead series will be exhibited alongside Free Britney?, a work inspired by the trial brought by pop star Britney Spears to annul her 13-year conservatorship, and Evil.66.1, also called “War on Women,” a 2016 compilation of statements on women made by then-U.S. President Donald Trump. In addition to an exhibition in the 2nd floor lobby of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and screenings in the 1st floor hall, Cokes’s work will be part of an off-site exhibition outside the museum.
The Queen is Dead … Fragment1: 1, 3
2019, HD video, color, sound, 15 min. 40 sec.
Text: Vann R. Newkirk, “Aretha Franklin’s Revolution, “ The Atlantic (August 16, 2018); Matt Thompson, “Before and After Aretha,“ The Atlantic(August 16, 2018)
Music: Aretha Franklin, “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” (1967), “Respect” (1967), “I Say a Little Prayer“ (1968), “Think“ (1968), “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (1968), “Rock Steady“ (1972)
The Queen is Dead … Fragment2: 1, 4
2019, HD video, color, sound, 15 min. 39 sec.
Text: David Remnick, “A.F.’s American Soul (Soul Survivor…)”, New York Magazine (2016), Prof. Farah Jasmine Griffin, “A.F. – Musical Genius, Truth Teller, Freedom Fighter”, The Nation Magazine (August 16, 2018)
Music: Floorplan a.k.a. Robert Hood “Never Grow Old” (Re-Plant) [M-plant](214)
Free Britney?: 1
2022, HD video, color, sound, 40 min. 53 sec.
Text: Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, “Britney Spears’s Conservator-ship Nightmare” (Excerpts), The New Yorker, July 3, 2021
Music: Britney Spears, “Britney’s Bangers XTC Selector Remix”
Evil.66.2（DT.sketch.2.7）: 2
2016, HD video, color, stereo, 8 min. . 4 sec. (LED Panel)
Text: Donald Trump (excerpted quotes compiled by Vicky Chandler and Norlisa Hanlon Rosslee)
Music: Pet Shop Boys, “Flamboyant” (Mayer Kompakt Mix) (2012)
Where you can see Tony Cokes’s works
1. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum 2F Lobby / 1F Hall（screening four times during the festival）
2. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum exterior wall
3. CREATORE with PLUS (Yebisu Garden Place Center plaza B1F)
4. Ebisu Skywalk (between JR Ebisu Station and Ebisu Garden Place)
![[Special Free Screening] Tony COKES, <i>The Queen is Dead ... Fragment 1</i> + <i>Free Britney?</i>](https://www.yebizo.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/01/others/ud/Sc_11_02_w_TonyCokes_FreeBritney_dummy-1024x679.jpg)
