At 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair

The Cinematic eye of West African photographer Paul Kodjo: The Ivorian Miracle in the 1970’s

Saturday May 4, 2019, 6:30 – 7:30pm

Forum Room/1-54 at Industria, 775 Washington Street, New York City

Panelists:

Ananias Leki Dago (photographer and founder of Les Rencontres du Sud)

Antawan Byrd (art historian and assistant curator of photography at the Art Institute of Chicago).

Moderator:

Claude Grunitzky (media and culture entrepreneur, founder of TRACE and the media platform TRUE Africa).

During this panel, we will look at what makes Paul Kodjo’s photographic practice different from other West African studio photographers of the same period. Ananias Leki Dago has worked for the last ten years at preserving Kodjo’s photographic archive and will describe the artist’s journey, while Antawan Byrd will speak of Kodjo’s cinematic approach and aesthetic engagement with visual art and popular media, in particular the photo-novel. Claude Grunitzky will bring his own experience with popular media while highlighting this unique record of Abidjan being reshaped by social cultural changes and modernist design and architecture.

To register click on the link

Photography exhibition at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair/ in New York, 3-5 May 2019.

May 2: VIP viewing with two private tours, 11-12pm and 3-4pm.

Saturday May 4: Panel Discussion 6:30 – 7:30 pm

Special Project Booth 26 / Industria, 775 Washington Street, Manhattan.

Isabel S. Wilcox is pleased to announce an exhibition from her collection of the work of the photographer from the Ivory Coast, Paul Kodjo.

Paul Kodjo’s black and white photographs are being shown in the US for the first time.  Working within the tradition of African traditional studio photography but pushing its boundaries, Kodjo photographed his subjects outside of the studio in staged modern domestic indoors and in the streets of Abidjan, creating a unique record of Abidjan during the years of the economic boom of the early post-independence years.

Kodjo used a cinematic approach and introduced movement and dramatic tensions drawing the viewer into his subjects’ lives: their relationships and emotions. He turned to the tradition of the photo-roman/photo-novel that were published in the national periodical Ivoire Dimanchewith wide exposure.  Kodjo’s photographs, which also include candid shots of private events and fashion photography, echo the shifting social and familial dynamics as well as the renewal of the urban landscape shaped by modernist design and architecture.  The exhibition is curated by Isabel S. Wilcox and Lydie Diakhate.

Panel discussion: Saturday May 4^th, 2019/ 6:30 – 7:30 pm.

The cinematic eye of West African photographer Paul Kodjo: The Ivorian Miracle in the 1970’s.

Panelists: Ananias Leki Dago (photographer) and Antawan Byrd (curator and art historian)

Moderator: Claude Grunitzky (media and culture entrepreneur)

Location: Forum Room/1-54 at Industria, Manhattan