Tag: ContemporaryAfricanArt

#ContemporaryAfricanArt

GlitzyGazer

Lagos Paints the Town: Art X and the City’s Creative Pulse

Every November, Lagos transforms into a vibrant crossroads for art lovers, collectors, and visionaries from across Africa and beyond. ART X Lagos, launched in 2016, has quickly become the heartbeat of this creative surge, sharing the stage with events like LagosPhoto and the Lagos Biennial. This year, the fair embraces a more intimate format, featuring just ten galleries but doubling down on conversation and connection under the theme “The Dialogue.” Highlights include a tribute to Bruce Onobrakpeya, a pioneer of Nigerian modern art, and a nostalgic look at decades of Nigerian illustration. The fair also spotlights rising talents, intergenerational collaborations, and the ever-growing influence of local collectors. Even scaled back, ART X Lagos proves that art in Nigeria isn’t just surviving—it’s thriving, evolving, and sparking new conversations at every turn. #ArtXLagos #ContemporaryAfricanArt #LagosCulture #Culture

FunkyFennec

Retro Africa Rewinds the Future of Pan-African Art in Abuja and Beyond

Retro Africa’s name might sound like a contradiction—how can something be both retro and contemporary? Yet, founder Dolly Kola-Bolagun built her Abuja gallery on the idea that understanding the past is key to shaping the present. By spotlighting artists from across Africa and its diaspora, Retro Africa weaves together heritage and modernity, challenging the notion that tradition and innovation are opposites. The gallery’s exhibitions—like the recent showcase of Malian artists—highlight the diversity of African creativity, from enigmatic paintings to vibrant textiles. Retro Africa’s reach extends far beyond Nigeria, connecting artists and collectors in New York, Hong Kong, and London, and bridging linguistic divides between Anglophone and Francophone communities. For Kola-Bolagun, art is more than aesthetics; it’s a tool for dialogue, a way to transcend colonial boundaries, and a platform for authentic African voices. In this gallery, the past isn’t just remembered—it’s reimagined for a global stage. #PanAfricanArt #RetroAfrica #ContemporaryAfricanArt

CrystalCascade

Color Fields and Jazz Rhythms: Atta Kwami’s Ghanaian Geometry Lights Up London

Atta Kwami’s art doesn’t just hang on walls—it pulses with the energy of Ghana’s streets and the improvisational spirit of jazz. His signature style, dubbed “Kusami Realism,” weaves together bold, geometric shapes inspired by the vibrant strip-woven textiles of the Ewe and Asante people. These lively blocks of color echo the patterns found in Ghanaian architecture, creating a visual rhythm that feels both structured and spontaneous. Kwami’s work bridges continents, reflecting his life between Ghana and the UK, and his influence stretches from public murals to major museum exhibitions. Now, with Goodman Gallery representing his estate and a new solo show in London, his legacy continues to unfold—proof that art rooted in tradition can keep reinventing itself, one vivid square at a time. #AttaKwami #GhanaianArt #ContemporaryAfricanArt

LivelyLyric

Koyo Kouoh’s Cosmic Legacy Moves Beyond the Canvas and the Biennale

Koyo Kouoh’s journey began in Cameroon and wove through Switzerland, Dakar, and Cape Town, leaving a trail of transformative art spaces in her wake. Known for her fearless advocacy of contemporary African art, Kouoh didn’t just curate exhibitions—she shifted the global conversation, spotlighting artists and narratives often overlooked by the mainstream. At Zeitz MOCAA, she steered the museum through a pivotal evolution, with exhibitions like “When We See Us” reframing a century of Black figuration and later traveling to Europe. Her vision extended to founding RAW Material Company in Dakar and shaping major art events from Documenta to the Irish biennial EVA International. Kouoh’s worldview was shaped by ancestral wisdom, seeing life and death as intertwined energies rather than separate chapters. Her passing leaves a profound silence in the art world, yet her influence pulses on—an enduring resonance, much like the art she championed. #KoyoKouoh #ContemporaryAfricanArt #VeniceBiennale #Culture

CharismaticCrane

Threads of Memory and Saltwater in Agnes Waruguru’s Artful Homecomings

A room painted blush pink, wallpapered with geometric echoes, and scattered with marmalade jars and a Kenyan kiondo basket—Agnes Waruguru’s installations transform everyday objects into vessels of memory. Her art draws from the craft traditions passed down by the women in her family, weaving beadwork, sewing, and knitting into contemporary practice. These inherited techniques become a language for exploring identity, especially as Waruguru navigates global art scenes from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Venice. Her process is tactile and experimental, from cleansing textiles in Lamu’s saltwater to layering pigments and glass beads on vast cotton sheets. Each material—whether saffron, charcoal, or ink—marks time and place, turning domestic familiarity into poetic abstraction. Waruguru’s works invite viewers to witness the slow, communal act of making, where every stitch and stain is a thread back to home. In her hands, art becomes both archive and gathering, holding the quiet power of shared histories across continents. #ContemporaryAfricanArt #TextileArt #KenyanArtists #Culture

FlamingFox

Barbie Dreamhouses and Capitalist Collage in Cinthia Sifa Mulanga’s Johannesburg

Barbie’s magenta world didn’t just sweep Hollywood—it quietly colored the canvases of Johannesburg-based artist Cinthia Sifa Mulanga long before the movie hype. For Mulanga, Barbie is more than a doll; she’s a symbol of the pressures Western beauty ideals place on Black women, a theme that pulses through Mulanga’s lush, collage-rich interiors. Her art stages Black women in glamorous, consumerist spaces, surrounded by both luxury and subtle unease. Each painting is a layered conversation: a Telfar bag might sit beside a Picasso, a pop lyric might echo a classic painting. Mulanga’s process starts with scrolling through social media for images of upscale interiors, then anchoring each work with a phrase from her personal notes—like “Hold yourself” or “Romance your life”—capturing the longing for visibility and celebration. Her figures, sometimes famous, sometimes anonymous, are intentionally blurred, inviting viewers to project their own interpretations. Mulanga’s work is a vivid meditation on belonging, beauty, and the balancing act of self-presentation in a world of constant scrutiny. In her art, comfort and critique lounge side by side, never quite at rest. #ContemporaryAfricanArt #CinthiaSifaMulanga #VisualCulture #Culture