British-Trinidadian artist Zak Ové created over eighty identical 7ft sculptures in 2016 inspired by a wooden sculpture from Kenya, given to him as a child by his father and renowned film-maker, Horace Ové. Their title The Invisible Man is reference to Ralph Ellison’s revolutionary novel of the same title, which alludes to themes of racism and exclusion in America felt by the black protagonist.

Ové crafted the men with masks over their faces to depict ‘The Masque of Blackness’ - a direct reference and rebuke to Ben Jonson’s play which was first performed in 1605, set in the backdrop of Somerset House, where these creations were first exhibited. Notably, the artist avoided the use of a dark wood, such as ebony, further altering and challenging our perceptions of tradition and context. The graphite figures stand in unison - powerful and immovable - although ambiguous in their gesture.

The installation has been split up and moved across the world allowing its meaning and presence to be reshaped and reinterpreted depending on the situation it is placed in. This perhaps, in part, reflects some of the complexities of contemporary identity resulting from Africa’s diaspora. Ové has described the figures as a ‘tribe out of context’ and that the work is a way to speak about ‘what it is to be an African born away from the continent’.