Solo Exhibitions

Xenson: Olidde Mupipa is still on view at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute in Nairobi, Kenya until July 13, 2024

Olidde mupipa is an idiomatic expression in Luganda – one of the major languages in Uganda that translates to “you have eaten from the barrel”. The phrase implies that one has arrived too late for something that they have to make do with leftovers. More specifically, the expression refers to the steel drums, which are used for storing and transporting various liquid substances. Often these barrels are resold and repurposed for different uses, including storage for alternative substances or materials such as rubbish, and they are also broken down to produce other functional objects such as troughs and karayi. In his practice, Xenson has adopted these steel barrels, and their offshoots, as a support for painting and as building blocks for the sculptures and installations that make up this exhibition.

Ranti Bam: Anima is still on view at James Cohan in New York, United States until July 26, 2024

Ranti Bam engages with the feminine; confronting notions of fragility, vulnerability, and care. Her recent practice explores multivalent concepts of anima–which in Latin represents the soul and in Jungian philosophy is defined as the feminine spirit tied to emotion, empathy, and sensitivity rooted in the unconscious. Bam creates clay forms that embody this life force in two related bodies of work: abstract vessels and Ifas. In Anima, the artist draws inspiration from the symbolic amalgamation of Eden and Hieronymus Bosch’s painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights, building a sculptural world that reimagines Eve as prima materia—the primal feminine. The abstract vessels are constructed with thin slabs of overlapping earthenware and are often supported by legs, while others are grounded flat. Through her work in clay, Bam searches for a new state of consciousness, one that is unbound. Her colorful abstract vessels and corporeal Ifas emit an interior spirit that encourages public contemplation and invites us to embrace vulnerability.

Zanele Muholi: Eye Me is still on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, United States until August 11, 2024

Eye Me brings together over 100 of the artist’s photographs from 2002 to the present alongside paintings, sculpture and video. The exhibition provides an opportunity for audiences to experience Muholi’s expansive artistic project to celebrate and make visible their Black queer community in post-Apartheid South Africa. A self-described visual activist, Zanele Muholi foregrounds issues of gender identity, representation and race in their work. Muholi’s project as both an artist and an activist includes making space for Black queer life in the museum. For Muholi, photography is a formidable tool for resistance and social change. From their early work contending with the dangers of being queer in South Africa to more recent work embracing their own Blackness and gender expression, activism is central to Muholi’s artistic practice.

Group Exhibitions

Unlimited III is still on view at Gallery 1957 in Accra, Ghana until July 13, 2024

The first and second iteration of this monumental group exhibition took place respectively in 2022 and 2023. This third edition is centred on the theme of The African Family, and what this means for us as artists and individuals in these uncertain times. In the contemporary context, the concept of the African Family is a multifaceted and evolving idea that reflects the complexities of African societies. Today, the African Family extends beyond biological relations to include chosen families, communities, and networks of support. Nothing is more so apparent than the artist-led ecosystem that can be found thriving in Ghana. The Black figuration movement finds a home base in Ghana and some of the game-changers are exploring the contemporary representation of African selfhood with distinctive style.

Biennials

Whitney Biennial 2024 is still open at the Whitney Museum in New York, United States until August 11, 2024

The eighty-first edition of the Whitney Biennial—the longest-running survey of contemporary art in the United States—features seventy-one artists and collectives grappling with many of today’s most pressing issues. The exhibition’s subtitle, Even Better Than the Real Thing, acknowledges that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is complicating our understanding of what is real, and rhetoric around gender and authenticity is being used politically and legally to perpetuate transphobia and restrict bodily autonomy. These developments are part of a long history of deeming people of marginalized race, gender, and ability as subhuman—less than real. In making this exhibition, we committed to amplifying the voices of artists who are confronting these legacies, and to providing a space where difficult ideas can be engaged and considered.