Amoako Boafo, Hands Up, 2018. Art Salon. Detail.
The contemporary art scene is booming in Africa. Artists are getting more attention and recognition, taking part in the most prestigious art fairs and exhibitions around the world. From painting to video and performance, there is an immense number of talents, bringing attention to colonialism, identity, and the climate crisis. Below, you’ll meet six artists leading the contemporary arts in Africa and beyond.
Ethiopian-born, New York-based Julie Mehretu (b. 1970) is already an acclaimed artist. She uses large-scale paintings to discuss themes such as migration, urban development in the world’s peripheries, and climate change. Her abstract works take elements from architecture, cartography, and Arabic calligraphy, creating layered images with multiple perspectives about the social issues we face today.
Mehretu’s work has been included not only in many biennials, including Istanbul, Sao Paulo, and Venice but also in the prestigious Documenta (13). In 2021 the Whitney Museum in New York exhibited her first career survey.
Contemporary African artists: Julie Mehretu, Epigraph, Damascus, 2016, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Contemporary African artists: Julie Mehretu, Black City, 2007, François Pinault Collection, Paris, France.
Contemporary African artists: Portrait of Julie Mehretu. Photo by Josefina Santos. Artnews.
Mehretu’s abstract works take elements from architecture, cartography, and Arabic calligraphy, creating layered images with multiple perspectives about the social issues we face today.
Mehretu’s abstract works.
Ethiopian-born, New York-based Julie Mehretu (b. 1970) is already an acclaimed artist. She uses large-scale paintings to discuss themes such as migration, urban development in the world’s peripheries, and climate change.
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962) is a British-Nigerian artist that became known for using brightly colored “African” textiles (in fact Dutch wax-printed fabric produced in Indonesia and then sold back in African countries). His work mixes historical references with humor and satire to question colonialism, race, and globalization through sculpture, painting, installation, film, and photography.
Shonibare is one of the most celebrated contemporary artists being awarded and honored by the British monarchy with the titles of MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2004 and CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2019. These titles are granted to citizens for outstanding contributions to the arts and sciences. In addition, in 2013 he was named Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts and received the Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon Award in 2021.
Contemporary African artists: Yinka Shonibare, Moving Up, 2021. Photo by Stephen White & Co. Artist’s website.
Contemporary African artists: Yinka Shonibare, The British Library, 2014, Tate Modern, London, UK. Photo by Oliver Cowling.
Contemporary African artists: Yinka Shonibare, Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, 2010, Trafalgar Square, London, UK. Photo by Stephen White & Co.
Contemporary African artists: Portrait of Yinka Shonibare, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK. Photo by Marcus Leith
Shonibare uses humor in his work to question social matters.
His work uses historical references to question colonialism, race, and globalization through sculpture, painting, installation, film, and photography.
Shonibare uses humor in his work to question social matters, colonialism, race, and globalization.
Shonibare is one of the most celebrated contemporary artists being awarded and honored by the British monarchy with the titles of MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2004 and CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2019.
Exploring the themes of gender, femininity, and objectification of black women, Wangechi Mutu creates a personal language that references nature and the organic world to shape an ethereal dimension. Mutu was born in Kenya in 1972 and moved to New York in the 1990s to study Arts and Anthropology. Her interest in animals, plants, and metamorphosis paved the way for her to produce the hybrid female-animal figures present in her paintings, collages, sculptures, and films.
Mutu’s work is part of collections worldwide and is extensively exhibited in the US and Europe. In 2015, she participated in many biennials including, Dak’Art (Dakar), Moscow, and Venice. In 2019 she was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) to inaugurate a space at the museum entrance that will be dedicated to contemporary artists. Mutu created large bronze sculptures (Seated I, II, III, and IV) that were exhibited until the fall of 2020.
Contemporary African artists: Wangechi Mutu, My Strength Lies, 2006, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA.
Contemporary African artists: Wangechi Mutu, The Seated I and II (detail), 2019, Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY, USA; and Brussels, Belgium.
Contemporary African artists: Wangechi Mutu, Histology of the Different Classes of Uterine Tumors, 2004-5, National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh, UK.
Contemporary African artists: Portrait of Wangechi Mutu. Sotheby’s.
Wangechi Mutu works with collage, painting, and sculpture.
Mutu explores themes of gender, femininity, and objectification of black women.
Her interest in animals, plants, and metamorphosis paved the way for her to produce the hybrid female-animal figures present in her paintings, collages, sculptures, and films.
Mutu’s work is part of collections worldwide and is extensively exhibited in the US and Europe.
The Malian artist Abdoulaye Konaté (b. 1953) works mainly with textiles using traditional craft techniques to create installations and large panels that almost resemble paintings. He assembles colored pieces of fabric into abstract compositions using locally sourced materials. Konaté’s art draws attention to environmental, political, and humanitarian issues that, not only Mali but many other colonized nations, face in the globalized world.
His work has been shown around the world in collective exhibitions and individually in the UK, Italy, and Germany. In 2002 Konaté was awarded Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mali and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France, adding to the many awards the artist has received.
Contemporary African artists: Abdoulaye Konaté, Zaïane N°1, 2020, La Galerie 38, Casablanca, Morocco.
Contemporary African artists: Abdoulaye Konaté, Composition vert émeraude et rouge, 2016, Blain Southern Gallery Archive, Berlin, Germany. Photo by Todd White.
Installation view: Abdoulaye Konaté at Blain Southern Gallery Archive, Berlin, Germany. Photo by Peter Mallet
Contemporary African artists: Portrait of Abdoulaye Konaté. Blain Southern Gallery, Berlin, Germany. Photo by Peter Mallet.
Konaté creates his pieces using traditional Malian craft techniques.
Konaté assembles colored pieces of fabric into abstract compositions using locally sourced materials.
His work has been shown around the world in collective exhibitions and individually in the UK, Italy, and Germany.
Konaté’s art draws attention to environmental, political, and humanitarian issues that, not only Mali but many other colonized nations, face in the globalized world.
Artist Tracey Rose (b. 1974) works through performance, photography, video, and installation using her body as a focal point. The South African artist discusses feminism, gender roles, and racial topics and she is known for creating powerful political statements. Her practice is influenced by 1970s experimental performance art.
Rose has participated in numerous high-profile exhibitions in Africa, Europe, and the US, including biennials (Dakar, Venice, Johannesburg) and Documenta (14).
Contemporary African artists: Tracey Rose, Die Wit Man (The White Man), 2015, video still, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, SA.
Contemporary African artists: Tracey Rose, The Kiss, 2001, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, SA.
Installation view: Tracey Rose, X, 2014, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain.
Contemporary African artists: Portrait of Tracey Rose. Photo by Sandrine Dole (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Rose uses her own body as the focal point of her works.
Rose discusses feminism, gender roles, and racial topics and she’s known for creating powerful political statements.
Her practice is influenced by 1970s experimental performance art.
Rose has participated in numerous high-profile exhibitions in Africa, Europe, and the US, including biennials (Dakar, Venice, Johannesburg) and documenta (14).
The youngest of this (humble) list, Amoako Boafo (b. 1984), rose to fame soon after the Black Lives Matter movement and is one of the biggest promises of contemporary African art. Born in Ghana with studies in Vienna, Boafo mainly paints portraits influenced by Egon Schiele and his striking style. He explores and questions the limited views people often have about Black people and uses finger paint to put a deeper connection into his portraits.
In 2021 the artist collaborated with the fashion house Dior for a celebrated menswear Spring/Summer collection. Already part of museum collection’s like the Guggenheim (New York) and Albertina (Vienna), this May, Boafo debuted his first solo museum exhibition at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
Contemporary African artists: Amoako Boafo, The Menu, 2020, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Photo by Sean Fleming.
Contemporary African artists: Amoako Boafo, Gregory, 2019. Document Journal.
Contemporary African artists: Amoako Boafo x Dior Homme collection. Vogue.
Contemporary African artists: Portrait of Amoako Boafo. Photo by Chi Lam. Artnet.
The bright colored works of Amoako Boafo. He is one of the biggest promises of contemporary African art.
Born in Ghana with studies in Vienna, Boafo mainly paints portraits influenced by Egon Schiele and his striking style.
In 2021 the artist collaborated with the fashion house Dior for a celebrated menswear Spring/Summer collection.
The young artist’s works are already part of museum collection’s like the Guggenheim (New York) and Albertina (Vienna), this May, Boafo debuted his first solo museum exhibition at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.
Get your daily dose of art
Click and follow us on Google News to stay updated all the time
DailyArt Magazine needs your support. Every contribution, however big or small, is very valuable for our future. Thanks to it, we will be able to sustain and grow the Magazine. Thank you for your help!
Art enthusiast that loves modernism, abstraction, textiles, and Latin America.
Bec is an art nerd, bicycle enthusiast, cat mom, artist/crafter/maker from sunny Toronto, Canada.
On October 10th, the doors of Tate Modern in London swung open, unveiling a long-awaited exhibition: the annual Turbine Hall Hyundai Commission. The...
Natalia Tiberio 2 November 2023
South Africa is infamous for its time of apartheid (1948-1994), a legal system for racial segregation. It was a period of violence and oppression...
Guest Profile 21 October 2024
Featuring the groundbreaking works of 50 rising artists, African Art Now: 50 Pioneers Defining African Art for the Twenty-First Century, curated by...
Carlotta Mazzoli 20 November 2024
At first glance, Martin Senkubuge’s drawings look like actual photographs. The artist is the founder of Part of Us, a visual campaign aimed to...
Vithória Konzen Dill 20 November 2024
