Last year I received a press release for an exhibition by Seck at Tuckers AutoMed in Wedgewood-Houston. I clicked some links and did some searching online, discovering that Seck had built a reputation in the film community and won awards for his music videos. And when I looked at images of his paintings, they looked just like the work I’d expect from a newbie visual artist just starting to get his feet wet in the gallery scene. Maybe Seck’s painting would catch up with the visuals in his film work? Maybe the art show is just a one-time goof? I didn’t pitch a story, but I kept my eyes and ears open. Fast-forward to Seck’s goofy, grotesque, unhinged and unsettling portrait series at Nka’s Ephemera show (including Meg Pie and Wvlly) in July. In one year, Seck went from being a very early painter making derivative work and searching for a voice to making this series that goes right past Basquiat to Bacon, and reads like a Fat Albert cartoon directed by David Cronenberg. It’s powerful, unsettling stuff, and it shows Seck making good on his potential as an artistic all-arounder.
Best New Artist
