On tomorrow – Three ways to catch 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

Cosmas Shiridzinomwa, Rejection, 2013, Oil on Canvas, 171 x 153cm. Courtesy of Gallery Delta

As a response to the challenge, 1-54 have arranged it so you can now catch the Contemporary African Art Fair show one of three ways (act fast!):

In Real Life – Somerset House, Somerset House, 8-10 October 2020. (Book a time slot now!)

Showcasing the work of more than 110 emerging and established artists from Africa and its diaspora, working in a wide variety of mediums and from a range of geographical backgrounds.

Online Globally – through 1-54 Online, Powered by Christie’s. 7-12 October

This will offer virtual booths that feature 30 works from each gallery, as well as providing a spotlight series on individual artists, all of which will be globally accessible.

Christie’s London Headquarters – Highlights, on view to the public from 6-12 October 2020

1-54 Highlights, a curated pop-up exhibition including one seminal work from each 1-54 exhibitor will take place in the Duke Street Gallery within Christie’s Headquarters at King Street.

SOUTHERN AFRICAN GALLERIES TAKING PART THIS YEAR:

ATELIER LE GRAND VILLAGE

Presenting Artists: Hanneke Benade, Banele Khoza, Evans Mbugua, Ncaphayi, Bambo Sibiya, Diane Victor

Founded by Francis van der Riet, born in Zimbabwe, Atelier le Grand Village, situated in the south of France is a studio where artists from the African continent come to work and revive the art of stone lithography. Artists enjoy working at the Atelier, collaborating, sharing and exploring diverse techniques from the rich experiences encountered here.

The studio has worked with a selection of artists especially young South Africans who have won the Gerard Sekoto Prize and come to France on residency at the Cité International des Arts in Paris. Artists from Southern Africa that have worked at the studio include Bambo Sibiya, Mongezi Ncaphayi, Willem Boshoff and Diane Victor. They come to the studio not only to create stone lithographs but to also work with other mediums such as drawing and painting. More recently Evans Mbugua from Kenya has come to work in the space. All printworks produced at the studio are registered with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Visit their website here.

BERMAN CONTEMPORARY

Presenting Artist: DuduBloom More

Rooted in the growing understanding of the cultural richness and diversity of South African contemporary art, Berman Contemporary centres on a vibrant group of artists living and working in South Africa.
Through studio visits, the gallery establishes connections to artists from all walks of life whose unique artistic processes celebrate their historical and cultural heritage and give voice to their complex societal realities, evoking an active and interpretative experience for the viewer. Berman Contemporary was established to promote the work created by these local artists. The gallery further aims to establish a synergistic network between South African artists and their global contemporaries, many of whom evidently want to engage with the current South African art scene – not only as observers, but as active analysts, experimenters and contributors within this context and with this specific audience in mind.

Visit their website here.

GALLERY DELTA

Presenting Artists: Helen Lieros, Richard Mudariki, Cosmas Shiridzinomwa

Another feature in the Contemporary African Art Fair is Gallery Delta was established in 1975. From its inception, its policy was to encourage and promote Zimbabwean contemporary painting, graphics and mixed media sculpture as a counter to Shona sculpture, which predominated from the 1960s to the 1990s. From the 1990s, the contemporary painting movement around Gallery Delta gathered strength and has continued until the present. Many artists who were tutored, encouraged, supported and promoted along the years have left the country for South Africa and overseas where they are practicing successfully. Alternatively, they are working with external galleries. They include Virginia Chihota, Richard Mudariki, Misheck Masamvu, Admire Kamudzengerere, Gareth Nyandoro, Wallen Mapondera, Portia Zvavahera and Masimba Hwati amongst others. Artist painter Helen Lieros has led the artistic, tutorial and curatorial input since the gallery’s founding. After 45 years of service to arts and artists, Gallery Delta has made a contribution that has helped change contemporary painting in Zimbabwe.

Visit their website here.

GUNS & RAIN

Presenting Artists: Thina Dube, Tuli Mekondjo

Founded in 2014, Guns & Rain was one of Africa’s first online galleries, founded by Julie Taylor to address the under-representation of African art online and globally. Guns & Rain now has a physical space in Johannesburg. The gallery works with contemporary emerging artists from six African countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, eSwatini and Nigeria, and has produced regular exhibitions in Johannesburg since 2015. Most of the artists engage with social and political subject matter, and many are concerned with identity politics. The name ‘Guns & Rain’ comes from the work of South African-born British anthropologist and playwright David Lan – who wrote about guerrillas and spirit mediums in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle – for its reference to culture, identity, land, struggle, and other important themes that inform the curatorial focus and programme of the gallery.

Visit their website here.

THK GALLERY

Presenting Artists: Nonzuzo Gxekwa, Andrew Kayser,  Nyasha Marovatsanga, Manyatsa Monyamane, Jake Michael Singer,

THK Gallery is a dynamic contemporary art gallery situated in the heart of Cape Town, South Africa. The gallery was founded by German photographer and collector Frank Schönau in 2018, who was joined by auction veteran Linda Pyke in 2020. Working with established and emerging artists from Africa and the diaspora, as well as international artists, the gallery presents a diverse array of developing contemporary visual art forms. It contributes to the contemporary art discourse by showcasing, to a global audience, art that presents alternative perspectives and aesthetics to the status quo, in order to create new ways of seeing and thinking.

Visit their website here.

SPIER ARTS TRUST

Presenting Artists: Liza Grobler, Kimathi Mafafo, Ronald Muchatuta

Only at 1-54 Online Powered by Christie’s.

Passionate about art, and with a patronage spanning over a decade, Nando’s houses one of the largest bodies of contemporary Southern African art in the world. With almost 10,000 works in the UK alone, every restaurant features hand selected original pieces by African artist. The long-term partnership between Nando’s and Spier Arts Trust is modelled on the principle of shared value. By enabling artists to focus full-time on their artistic careers with the potential to earn regular income, Nando’s believes this can make a difference in artists’ lives while growing their own body of high quality Southern African contemporary art. Spier Arts Trust administers programmes that create career development opportunities for professional artists, thereby facilitating successful art careers.

Visit their website here.

This years Contemporary African Art Fair is one not to be missed!