Big Hug Studio

Showing posts with label artist. Show all posts

17.10.23

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair 2023 was well worth the wait

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair was a delectable fair featuring artists from all over Africa, and its diaspora. Here I have selected several favourites to show the wide diversity of art coming out of this continent. It is not only beautiful but meaningful in its inherent dialogue. Take Chiderah Bosah, who is a largely self-taught artist. Here he renders a couple in a warm embrace with a subdued softness in expression. They are bound together like he is to his art full of delicate emotions. Àsìkò is another Nigerian artist who uses photography and collage to create a narrative of his Yoruba culture. The Yoruba people belong to the South Western part of Nigeria. Here the figure is divinely set against a backdrop of a full moon. Her beauty is on full display and her body shows the markings of a deity. Wendimagegn Belete is an Ethiopian artist who uses mixed media to create a rendering of his African heritage. Identity politics is in full bloom and his subjects are carefully shaped by a symbolic language he wishes us to engage with. Yonatan Wondwosen is anothere Ethiopian artist whose Blue Gate is a beautiful abstract work balanced carefully by the colours he chooses. Nothing can be identified and it is up to us to figure out its meaning. It is enchanting nonetheless. Tatenda Chidora is Zimbabwean photographer who chooses his painted subjects to show their connection to their environment and hence Africa. In, A lot has been happening, we see a black figure with hands and feet painted the colour red. The body is luminous and darker than the soil that the model is lying on. We don't know exactly why but she is turned away from us making her withdrawn character is an enigmatic part of the piece. The soil representative of Africa is laced with meaning and the history of the continent. It is a strong juxtaposition and we can only guess at what has transpired to create it.

1 Chiderah Bosah, I am because you are II, 2023, Nigerian

2 Godwin Champs Namuyimba, Untitled, 2023, Ugandan

3 Souad Abdelrassoul, Hezel Eyes I, 2022, Egyptian

4 Lulama Wolf, The Outpour I, 2023, South African

5 Amani Bodo, La Memoire des Siecles, 2023, Congolese

6 Àsìkò, Adorned by the Heavens, 2020, Nigerian

7 Kingsley Ayogu, Malcolm X Hope of Renewal, 2023, Nigerian

8 Wendimagegn Belete, Between Matter and Memory 11, 2023, Ethiopian

9 Alice Marcelino, Kindumba, 2015, Portuguese Angolan

10 Roland Dorcely, Untitled ca. 1958, Haitian

11 Joanna Choumali, The world unravels before you, 2023, Ivorian

12 Madou Dieng Yacine, Sarah and James, 2023, Senegalese

13 Mmangaliso Nzuza, Almost Still, 2023, South African

14 Babajide Olatunji, Girl with blue scarf III, 2023, Nigerian

15 Yonatan Wondwosen, Blue Gate, 2023, Ethiopian

16 Hako Hankson, Toumai and Lucy, 2023, Cameroonian

17 Antoine Carbonne, Marine, 2005, French

18 Teresa Roza d'Oliveira, Untitled, 2005, Mozambican

19 Kyle Weeks, Eugenia, 2022, Namibian

20 Tiemar Tegene, Untitled III, 2023, Ethiopian

21 Tatenda Chidora, A lot has been happening, 2023, Zimbabwean

22 Stacey Gillian Abe, Whisphers of Sorghum, 2023, Ugandan

23 Nabil El Makhloufi, Chercheurs, 2023, German

24 Houda Terjuman, Diving into intricate waters, 2022, Moroccan

25 Samuel Fosso, Le Marin, 1997, Cameroonian

22.9.23

The Armory Show Art Fair 2023

The Armory Show is a not to be missed art fair in New York City. It's a grand affair that showcases leading talent from all over the world. This year it featured close to 2,000 works of art. Our first piece is by Native American artist Jeffrey Gibson. It is a geometrical masterpiece that weaves together many layers of paint into different shapes and colours. Mr. Gibson is the first solo indigenous artist to do be selected to represent the US at the Venice Biennale for 2024. I interviewed him many years ago and even then knew he was a remarkable talent. It's going to be wonderful to see what artwork he comes up with for the pavilion. Meanwhile, in Vickie Vainionpaa's Jupiter and Antiope, the Canadian artist creates tubular forms that bring to mind a sensual body and fluid forms. These are computer generated shapes that Ms. Vainionpaa then paints using oil in her unique technique. Another artist who I am fond of is Elliott Puckette. She is an American artist who has a truly unique way of painting. She first inks the wooden boards that have been prepared with layers of gesso with a preferred hue and then makes incisions to create the sinuous lines we see before us. They are brilliantly rendered with a perfect balance of forms. Mickalene Thomas is an African American artist whose paintings of naked bodies teaches us about the female form. She most often renders a nude black female and exposes her sexuality in a bold manner. Her subjects are confident females and they express themselves with a extraordinary individuality. Please stay tuned for another feature of the Amory Show as I have much more to show you.

1 Jeffrey Gibson, Mirror in the Sky, 2023, Native American