Contemporary African Art

Is Contemporary African Art Ready to Jump?

by Tom Johansmeyer ( found at luxist.com ) Jan 13th 2010

[Photo by magnafica via Flickr] Marlène Dumas South Africa contemporary art-"Portrait of Kendell Geers"

The first decade of the new millennium was the domain of Latin America, Asia, Turkey and Russia. A robust contemporary art market emerged in the Middle East, which brought with it plenty of interest in the region's artist. But, what about Africa art? The continent has been underrepresented in galleries and at auction, but it looks like collectors eager to try something new may be developing an appetite for African art.

The region's offering is both large and incredibly diversified, according to a report " l'art contemporain africain " by Artprice, and over the past 20 years, several African artists have been able to garner some attention at international art fairs and major exhibitions. Pieces have been featured sporadically, with a show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1989 and anther two years later at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. The Africa Remix exhibition toured from 2004 to 2007 ... and that's about it.

There's been a bit more action in the auction market, with Sotheby's becoming the first major house to sell contemporary African art in June 1999, when it sent the Jean Pigozzi collection under the gavel in London. It generated less than $16,000 but still set a record. Since then, Sotheby's hasn't dedicated any London or New York sales to African art (aside from its work with South African auctioneer, Stephan Welz & Co). Bonhams has taken more of an interest in the category, holding an African art sale back in April 2009 and moving 64 percent of the lots offered.

And, there's plenty of potential. The Artprice index for contemporary African art gained 370 percent from January 2002 to January 2007, and it's only fallen 25 percent since then. South African Marlène Dumas and Ethiopian Julie Mehretu have found their way onto collectors' radars, with Dumas' "Jule, die Vrou" selling for $5.5 million and quintupling the presale estimate at Christie's in 2004. Last February, another piece by this artist, "The Teacher (sub a)" sold for nearly $3 million. Mehretu's "Dervish" fetched $330,000 in June 2009, and "Transients" brought in $314,000 -- despite the global art market slump.

The market for contemporary African art is still small, but there's obviously plenty of potential. Even as the art market hints at a recovery, collectors will probably look for something new, especially with memories of European and Latin American price drops still fresh in their minds.

A few contemporary African art books worth reading :

Contemporary African Art Since 1980 is the first major survey of the work of contemporary African artists from diverse situations, locations, and generations who work either in or outside of Africa, but whose practices engage and occupy the social and cultural complexities of the continent since the past 30 years. Its frame of analysis is absorbed with historical transitions: from the end of the postcolonial utopias of the sixties during the 1980s to the geopolitical, economic, technological, and cultural shifts incited by globalization. Rather than a comprehensive survey, this richly illustrated book presents examples of ambitious and important work by more than 160 African artists since the last 30 years. This list includes Georges Adeagbo Tayo Adenaike, Ghada Amer, El Anatsui, Kader Attia, Luis Basto, Candice Breitz, Moustapha Dime, Marlene Dumas, Victor Ekpuk, Samuel Fosso, Jak Katarikawe, William Kentridge, Rachid Koraichi, Mona Mazouk, Julie Mehretu, Nandipha Mntambo, Hassan Musa, Donald Odita, Iba Ndiaye, Richard Onyango, Ibrahim El Salahi, Issa Samb, Cheri Samba, Ousmane Sembene, Yinka Shonibare, Barthelemy Toguo, Obiora Udechukwu, and Sue Williamson.

The main claim of this book is that contemporary African art can be best understood by examining the tension between the period of great political changes of the era of decolonization that enabled new and exciting imaginations of the future to be formulated, and the slow, skeptical, and social decline marked by the era of neo-liberalism and Structural Adjustment programs of the 1980s.

There & Back: Africa

~ Danielle Tilkin; Boniface Mongo-Mboussa; Maria Carlos Martinez.

There & Back features 20 African artists from five generations who have made an impact in the international art world. The exhibition invites viewers to undertake a two-way journey, from South to North, and examine the similarities and differences between the work of those artists who emigrated and the work of those who stayed.

A Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad

~ 200 p. Orlando Britto Jinorio A Fiction of Authenticity presents seminal moments for challenging prevailing notions about interculturalism and postcolonial subjects.

Is Contemporary African Art Ready to Jump?

A few contemporary African art books worth reading :

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