Personal Journeys: Art of survival

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Personal Journeys: Art of survival

Photos: Fahamu Pecou discovers the healing power of art after a childhood of loss and tragedy.

In his home studio, Fahamu Pecou works on a painting for a solo art show at Conduit Gallery in Dallas, Texas, called "How to Eat Your Watermelon." His work can be seen in "Inside the Perimeter," a group show at the High Museum of Art through Sept. 22.

The only remaining photograph of the Pecou family dates to around 1979. From left to right is Negateri, 2 (bottom); Namibia, 7, (top); father Alphonso; Fahamu, 3; Kwasi, 9; and mother Betty Ann.

Pecou was born in Brooklyn and grew up in poverty in Hartsville, S.C. He started drawing cartoons as a child and set his sights on becoming the black Walt Disney. He came to Georgia on a scholarship to the Atlanta College of Art, and now lives in Decatur. He has show has artwork at galleries in New York, Miami and Paris.

"Untitled" (top), a sculpture Pecou created in 1996, was the inspiration for his senior art show at the Atlanta College of Art.

Pecou's mother, Betty Ann Ridges Pecou, age 17 or 18, from a 1966 yearbook photo.

The garage in Pecou's Decatur home doubles as studio space. Here he works on a painting called "...Most of all No Signifyin'," for the show in Dallas. Pecou uses himself as a subject to explore the themes of identity, manhood and race.

Pecou's son, Ngozi, 4, sits on the artist's lap while watching a movie with Pecou's fiancee Jamila Crawford, right, and Crawford's daughter, Tsehai Messiah, 15, top left, and Pecou's daughter, Oji, 10, top right, at their home in Decatur.

Ngozi, right, snaps a photograph of his father, Pecou (left), as they visit with art professor Arturo Lindsay at the "Drawing Inside the Perimeter" show at the High Museum.

In a family photo take in 2011, Ngozi watchs Pecou paint in his studio.

Pecou pauses for a moment between paintings at the reception for his show at the Conduit Gallery in Dallas, Texas.

"Rock.Well (Radiant, Pop, Champ): After Norman Rockwell's Triple Self-Portrait, 1960," 2010 by Fahamu Pecou.

Pecou talks to Marion Marshall, left, and assistant director Danette Dufilho, right, during his show at the Conduit Gallery last month.

"Nunna My Heros: After Barkley Hendricks' 'Icon for My Man Superman,' 1969," 2011. By Fahamu Pecou.

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In his home studio, Fahamu Pecou works on a painting for a solo art show at Conduit Gallery in Dallas, Texas, called "How to Eat Your Watermelon." His work can be seen in "Inside the Perimeter," a group show at the High Museum of Art through Sept. 22.

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