Solo Exhibitions

Johnson Ocheja: A Pilgrim’s Journey; Through the Shades of Yellow is still on view at the African Artists’ Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria until May 28, 2023

For his solo debut, Johnson Ocheja makes his muse the pilgrim archetype. The exhibition depicts a series of portraits, mesmerizing and saturating his canvas through an intense reiteration of the color yellow as an emblem of happiness and bliss. The artist’s subjects are depicted in their gardens of pure delight, enjoying the fruits of their life journey irrespective of the simplicity of their physical reality. The title of the exhibition finds its roots in Ocheja’s pursuit of a symbolic quest, the ultimate journey of the artist, seeking a safe, often solitary space envisaged as a pilgrim’s journey to bliss. The pilgrim is typically associated with religious iconography, but the pilgrim is really anyone who seeks a deeper sense of purpose and significance in life. This questing is part of Ocheja’s journey.

Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined is still on view at The New Museum in New York, United States until June 4, 2023

Representing the full breadth of her practice, the presentation will encompass painting, collage, drawing, sculpture, film, and performance. Wangechi Mutu first gained acclaim for her collage-based practice exploring camouflage, transformation, and mutation. She extends these strategies to her work across various media, developing hybrid, fantastical forms that fuse mythical and folkloric narratives with layered sociohistorical references. Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined will trace connections between recent developments in the artist’s sculptural practice and her decades-long exploration of the legacies of colonialism, globalization, and African and diasporic cultural traditions. At once culturally specific and transnational in scope, Mutu’s work grapples with contemporary realities, while proffering new models for a radically changed future informed by feminism, Afrofuturism, and interspecies symbiosis.

Stan Douglas: 2011 ≠ 1848 is still on view at Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Canada until June 4, 2023

In this exhibition, Stan Douglas connects points of social rupture, rendering in minute detail and with technical ingenuity historic moments of protest, riot, and occupation from 2011 that echoed upheavals that swept Europe in 1848. The exhibition features five large-scale panoramic photographs depicting different protests and riots from 2011: the start of the Arab Spring in Tunis on January 12 with sit-ins and protests along Avenue Habib Bourguiba; the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver on June 15; clashes between youth and police in London on August 9; and the arrest of Occupy Wall Street protestors on Brooklyn Bridge in New York on October 1. Douglas created the images by combining meticulous and elaborate re-enactments of the events, high-resolution plate shots of each city site, together with aerial documentary footage.

Group Exhibitions

Africam EXPLORO is still on view at The Black Liquid Art Gallery in Viterbo, Italy until June 12, 2023

The name of the project Africam EXPLORO, refers to the Latin locution that means to make a reconnaissance in Africa, the twelve artists in the exhibition represent the tradition and aesthetic influences of their country that with a temporal acceleration have in a few years merged their culture with the global one, giving us back works with a current visual impact, but impregnated with an Afrocentricity that is again influencing Western aesthetics. One of the main challenges when it comes to contemporary African art is its vast and heterogeneous nature, encompassing a wide variety of forms, languages, and artists. As a result, it is not possible to analyze contemporary African art individually, but instead we can examine the different critical perspectives that have emerged over the years. Moving in a visually appealing direction Africam EXPLORO aims to highlight the international debate that has developed around this topic.

Art Fairs

RMB Latitudes will open at Shepstone Gardens in Johannesburg, South Africa from May 26-28, 2023

RMB Latitudes is an artist-forward event with a focus on discovery and development. In addition to traditional art fair booths, galleries, curators and artists will be encouraged to create their own unique exhibition spaces, in response to the unexpected and intimate venue, Shepstone Gardens. Central to the curation of this edition is sculpture, as well as solo and duo artist presentations. In this edition, artists and exhibitors from across the continent will transform Shepstone Gardens, a magnificent three-acre property, into a curated celebration of art from Africa. Visitors can enjoy some of the finest of African contemporary art and creativity, while strolling through an iconic Johannesburg garden and enjoying art talks and walkabouts, contemporary dining experiences, champagne, wine and gin bars.