James Ostrer : Johnny Just Came

8 Jun-22 Jul 2018

Overview

In 2016 world-renowned curator Azu Nwagbogu invited James to show his 2014 Wotsit All About series in Lagos, Nigeria. Naturally, Nwagbogu expected Ostrer to come along with his fetishised junk food portraits that had warned the west of over-consumption. Ostrer’s reaction in his own words was, “instant excitement for an ambition I never knew I had. However, this quickly turned into nervousness and suspicion”. He states, “I experienced perfectly and more clearly than ever before how the pervasive impact of racial cultural conditioning towards otherness affects us in terms of human divide through fear.” Even while aboard the plane to West Africa, the flight attendant amplified this sense of worry, warning him of the dangers of Lagos, explaining that the airline staff only travelled under armed guard.