Hassan Hajjaj: An Inventive Fusion of time and culture
I met Hassan Hajjaj at a casual dinner given by Christa Clarke who was hosting a few guests at the occasion of the opening of two photographic exhibitions at the Newark museum: Hassan Hajjij ‘s My Rock Stars and Georges Osodi’s Royals & Regalia. The curator of African arts at the Newark museum, Christa Clarke […]
Kenyan artist, Peterson Kamwathi has a solo show in New York City
A creative voice from Nairobi speaking up for good governance and peace Peterson Kamwathi , a contemporary artist from Kenya had his first solo show in New York City at the Volta art fair in March. ArtLabAfrica had been selected to show Kamwathi latest series “Positions”. This series came about as a reaction to the increasing […]
The Divine Comedy: 40 Contemporary artists from Africa exhibit their work at SCAD, in Savannah
Contemporary artists speak of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell! Sometimes things work out well. I was long overdue for a visit to a dear friend in Charleston and there was a large exhibition of Contemporary African art at the SCAD in Savannah. So I found myself touring the old quarters of Savannah and Charleston, places of […]
1:54 African Art Fair in London is spreading its wings.
LONDON WELCOMES AFRICAN CONTEMPORARY ART. This October was the second year that African art was making a showing in London during Frieze week and it was doubling in size! Named 1:54; 1 for one continent, 54 for 54 countries, the title was a reminder that Africa is not one country but a multitude of countries […]
The Joburg Art Fair 2014
The Getty Museum under Diane Frankel’s lead discovers African art and photography in Joburg. We landed in Joburg at the crack of dawn after a 15 hours flight, which while long was stress free! Listening to some of the other people we met up with at Joburg who had taken at least 24 hours to […]
Ground-breaking photographs from Port Harcourt: “Men of the Ogele” by Zina Saro -Wiwa
Men of the Ogele! a photographic series by Zinadu Saro-Wiwa, 2014. While getting her pop-up gallery in Port Harcourt up and running, Zina Saro-Wiwa has been focusing also on her own work which is to be shown at the Seattle Museum. She first set out to photographs the Ogele dancers who perform in local masquerades. […]
Boy’s Quarters: A Pop-Up Gallery in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Zina Saro-Wiwa and the Boy’s Quarters Mid-august I was having dinner with the artist, Zina Saro-Wiva in New York City at the little Italian restaurant around the corner from where I live in the West Side. A few days before Zina had contacted me asking me if I could help her promote her latest photographic work […]
Kenya update: MEAK finding ways to help despite the unrest
The news coming from Kenya have been distressing, but good work and good deeds are being done daily and seem to matter even more when I hear about the destruction and pain being inflicted. MEAK has kept to its commitment to provide medical care. An eye mission in Amboseli and a heart mission in Nairobi […]
Toyin Odutola: Close and Personal
I love it when I see an artist become more ambitious in terms of art making and take a big leap in a new direction. Toyin Odutola’s latest work showing at Jack Shainman is exactly that. Toyin specializes in drawings and portraiture but her ink-layering process is very unique. In the past she worked almost […]
Hélène Amouzou: A quiet and poignant voice
“On est vidée de l’être qu’on est.” (One’s own Being is voided out) “Self portraiture is a way of writing without words. My aim is to reveal the deepest parts of myself.” Hélène Amouzou Hélène Amouzou’s ephemeral and ghostly self-portraits caught my attention. While in these two photographs she does not truly appear, her absence […]
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