Ivan Forde’s Fall Of Man is a keystone of the artist’s radical approach to self portraiture and stems from his “Transformations” series, which explores the cognitive effects of John Milton’s Paradise Lost on contemporary readers. In his work on this edition created at Powerhouse Arts, Forde expanded upon his decade-long experimentation in cyanotype by adding layers of silkscreen and batik dye. Fall Of Man is a statement on perception and ways of seeing, emphasizing the contrast between tonal and graphic modes of representation, the poetic imaginary, and lived experience.

Images of Ivan Forde and the PHA Print team during production by Sam Polcer

artist bio

Ivan Forde (b. 1990) is a Guyanese-born, Harlem-raised contemporary artist based in New York City. He works across printmaking, photography, sound performance, and installation. Using a wide variety of photo-based and print-making processes, Forde retells stories from epic poetry casting himself as every character to reflect on migration, memory, and homeland. His non-linear versions of these time-worn tales open the possibility of new archetypes and alternative endings. By crafting his own unique epic poems and inserting himself in historical narratives, he connects the personal to the global and offers a transformative view of prevailing narratives in diasporic cultures. He has participated in exhibitions and performances at The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute, and Baxter Street Camera Club. PHA welcomed Forde as the first to pilot an artist residency in the Printshop in 2023. He has also participated in residencies with the Lower East Side Printshop, Pioneer Works, Vermont Studio Center, and ACRE Projects Chicago. Forde teaches at Columbia University and SUNY Purchase College. His work is included in the permanent collections of The Studio Museum In Harlem, Syracuse University Art Museum, and the Escalette Collection at Chapman University.