CURRENT ART FAIRS & EXTERNAL SHOWS
AUBREY WILLIAMS at Hepworth Wakefield
ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ at the 60th Venice Biennale
Entitled Everything Precious Is Fragile, this exhibition will explore the rich history of Benin, touching on themes such as the slave trade, the Amazon motif, spirituality and the Vodun religion. These themes are tied together by Benin's exploration of African feminism and pay tribute to women's versatility whilst envisioning a world where differences are seen as a source of richness and strength.
Acclaimed worldwide for his masks made from used plastic petrol cans, Romuald Hazoumè is an artist whose work is firmly rooted in Benin's social, political and cultural context and the globalized world.
October Gallery artists will be exhibiting at:
October Gallery at 1-54 London
Booth W1
Aubrey Williams at Frieze Masters
Stand S03
Defrost: October Gallery Presents
LR Vandy and Kenji Yoshida
at Honey & Smoke Grill House
LR Vandy presents dynamic sculptural works on the ground floor of the restaurant. Vandy transforms model boat hulls into ‘masks’, animating them with various materials, including fishing floats, porcupine quills and acupuncture needles. While simultaneously creating a vibrant and arresting body of work, Vandy’s Hulls allude to the transportation of migrants as commodities.
Mesmerising works on paper and canvas by Kenji Yoshida (1924 – 2009) are presented in the downstairs area of the restaurant. Employing an elliptical language of coloured forms often rendered in silver and gold leaf, Yoshida invites the viewer to consider the fundamental forces of life and meditate upon that essential unity that binds us all together.
The collaboration has been designed by October Gallery’s Artistic Director Elisabeth Lalouschek, Curator Eleri Fanshawe, and Chefs Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, the couple behind Honey & Smoke Grill House.
October Gallery artists recently exhibited at:
EL ANATSUI at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2024
The Summer Exhibition is a celebration of contemporary art and architecture and provides a vital platform and support for the artistic community—this year will explore the idea of making space.
Held since 1769, the Summer Exhibition displays works in a variety of mediums and genres by emerging and established artists.
GOVINDA SAH 'AZAD' at Pie Projects, Santa Fe
Aubrey Williams: Cosmological Abstractions, 1973–85
Tate Britain, London
Titled Aubrey Williams: Cosmological Abstractions, 1973–85, the display consists of paintings created in the 1970s and the 1980s, and explores Williams' involvement with ecology, cosmology, music and pre-colonial civilisations.
Visitors can now discover the galleries laid out chronologically, from the 1500s to the present day, with the relationship between British art and the wider world being a major theme throughout. Each solo exhibition room, devoted to major historic figures such as William Blake and John Constable amongst others.
EL ANATSUI at MAK in Vienna
HARD/SOFT: Textiles and Ceramics in Contemporary Art, showcases work from around 40 international artists, many whose work is being exhibited in Vienna for the first time. The exhibition explores the interplay between textiles and ceramics and examines the materials’ connections with economic and political systems. Furthermore, the exhibited works investigate themes relating to cultural appropriation and post-colonialism.
October Gallery at 1-54 New York
Booth 30
1st – 4th May, 2024
VIP Days 1st – 2nd May, 2024
October Gallery’s presentation at the tenth edition of 1-54 New York, 2024, includes a selection of dynamic works by Zana Masombuka, LR Vandy, Benji Reid, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga and Alexis Peskine. The gallery’s booth brings together vibrant photography, painting and new sculptural works.
Highlights include Zana Masombuka's first presentation in New York of her series of signature photographic works, Nges’rhodlweni: A Portal for Black Joy. Nges’rhodlweni refers to a space within the Ndebele household where people of all ages gather to share in the communion of art, creating a site of expression for the entire community.
A recent painting by acclaimed Congolese artist Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga from his ongoing Ghost of the Present series is presented. This captivating work conveys Kamuanga’s skilful ability to integrate a personal set of African iconographic symbols with wide ranging contemporary themes that resonate and engage.
Alexis Peskine presents new large-scale, mixed-media ‘portraits’ of the African diaspora, which are rendered by hammering nails of different gauges, with pinpoint accuracy, into wood. His wooden ‘canvas’ takes on an oval shape inspired by the portraits of the upper class and bourgeoisie of the 18th century Georgian era. Peskine reclaims this oval form, staining the wood with natural pigments and flower petals, such as hibiscus, curcuma and indigo. In these specific works, he deploys Japanese oxidised leaf which lends the final piece a lustrous and captivating aesthetic.
Striking photographic works by Benji Reid are exhibited for the first time in New York. Reid considers himself a Choreo-Photolist; a term he coined to encapsulate his unique
practice where theatricality, choreography and photography combine in the image. His breath-taking photography composed primarily of self-portraits, created by incredible poses with a medley of props, invites the viewer into a different dimension.
Sculpture is represented by LR Vandy’s new series of striking Hull works, in which she incorporates rope and the colour indigo, to comment on the sinister trade histories associated with both materials. Vandy transforms model boat hulls into ‘masks’, animating them with various materials, including fishing floats, porcupine quills and acupuncture needles. The artist’s solo exhibition Twist, (18th April – 25th May) at October Gallery, London, highlights her new series of visceral rope sculptures, which reference the historic importance of rope and its maritime and slave-trade connections.
EL ANATSUI at Entangled Pasts, 1778–now: Art Colonialism and Change
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Organised into three thematic sections that intertwine narratives across time and engage over 50 artists connected to the institution, the exhibition will include El Anatsui’s installation Akua's Surviving Children from 1996. This powerful piece represents a clan of survivors from the Danish slave trade, which operated between Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast, and the Danish West Indies.
HYUNDAI COMMISSION. EL ANATSUI: BEHIND THE RED MOON FOR TATE MODERN’S TURBINE HALL.
Tate Modern, London
The Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui: Behind the Red Moon is staged in three acts which visitors are invited to move between. The first hanging, titled The Red Moon, resembles the majestic sail of a ship billowing out in the wind, announcing the beginning of a journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Red liquor bottle-tops form the outline of a red moon, or ‘blood moon’, as it appears during a lunar eclipse.
The second sculpture, , is composed of many individual layers that evoke human figures suspended in a restless state. The ethereal appearance of these figures is achieved using thin bottle-top seals wired together to create a net-like material. When viewed from a particular vantage point, these scattered shapes come together into a single circular form of the Earth.
In Anatsui’s final hanging, The Wall, a monumental black sheet of metal cloth stretches from floor to ceiling. At its base, pools of bottle tops rise from the ground in the form of crashing waves and rocky peaks. Behind its black surface, a delicate structure of shimmering silver is revealed, covered in a mosaic of multi-coloured pieces. This combination of lines and waves, blackness and technicolour, echoes the collision of global cultures and hybrid identities that Anatsui invites us to consider throughout his work.
Burn, burn, burn - The Beats light up the Ox
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS at
Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester
Included is the work Untitled by William S. Burroughs —a fusion of ink and spray paint on a file folder, with words and inscriptions surfacing through the layers. From drawing to performance, music to photography, and film to art, the Beat Generation's experiments yielded a riotous tapestry of colour and controversy.
ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ: The Fâ Series
Neuberger Museum of Art, NY
Romuald Hazoumè: The Fâ Series presents twenty-two works, primarily from the mid-1990s. The majority of these large-scale canvases draw from the visual lexicon associated with Fâ, evoking its sacred knowledge through symbols and signs. The show is organised by the Neuberger Museum of Art and curated by Christa Clarke, independent curator, art historian and Senior Advisor at the Center for Curatorial Leadership.
ALEXIS PESKINE at
Reconnect Through Love
Omaka Gallery, London
Entry: £7.50 (Children U13 free entry)
GOVINDA SAH 'AZAD' at
Infinity Festival
ARK, Albion Rd, Margate
Alongside an exhibition of Sah's paintings are workshops, talks, meditation sessions and two special performances featuring Margate-based dancer and choreographer Ash Mukherjee and the Orchestra from Everywhere, which brings together musicians and music from around the world.
ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ's work featured in new
exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre
The Stuff of Life | The Life of Stuff
Visitors can view artworks composed of salvaged materials, re-synthesised fragments, and e-waste. They will encounter new environmental zones, where synthetic and organic matter interact, providing a fertile ground for the invention of mythical worlds, dystopias and speculative future narratives.
A major bottle-top work by El Anatsui also is featured in this exhibition, which includes works by Madi Acharya-Baskerville; Mandy Barker; Karla Black; Maarten Vanden Eynde; Ayan Farah; Daiga Grantina; Diana Lelonek; Ibrahim Mahama Mary Mattingly; Fabrice Monteiro; Marlie Mul; Samara Scott; Tejal Shah; Elias Sime; Michael E. Smith; Sarah Sze; Gavin Turk.
SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP CBE and ALEXIS PESKINE at The Fitzwilliam Museum
By bringing together collections from across the University of Cambridge’s museums, libraries and colleges with loans from around the world, Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance asks new questions about Cambridge’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and looks at how objects and artworks have influenced history and perspectives. Historical works are shown alongside modern and contemporary works by artists, including Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, Alexis Peskine, Barbara Walker and Donald Locke — each of them challenges and reflects on hidden and untold stories.
ZANA MASOMBUKA and HASSAN MASSOUDY at Honey & Smoke
Honey and Smoke Grill House,
216 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5QW
Open: Monday, 5.00 pm – 10.30 pm, Tuesday – Saturday, 12.00 pm – 10.30pm
This collaboration between October Gallery and Honey & Smoke celebrates shared cultural traditions, the ritual of dining together and the combination of heritage and modernity in both food and art.
Elegant, gestural, calligraphic works on paper by Hassan Massoudy are presented on the ground floor of the restaurant. Born to a traditional Iraqi family, Massoudy trained in Baghdad and Paris. A master artist-calligrapher, his work connects with the Middle Eastern influence and tradition through the written word, with peace and tolerance as central themes in his work.
Zana Masombuka, an artist from South Africa, presents a body of striking photographic works in the downstairs area of the restaurant. Her work engages with the intersection of tradition with the modern age, especially through Ndebele culture, symbolism and material contrast, in a radical re-examination of the self.
More about Honey & Smoke & Co here honeyandco.co.uk
OCTOBER GALLERY at ABU DHABI ART
Booth A11
VIP Openings: 20 – 21 November, 2023
Highlights include arresting new large-scale, mixed-media ‘portraits’ by Alexis Peskine. The artist portrays the African diaspora by creating works rendered by hammering gold and silver leafed nails of different gauge, with pin-point accuracy, into wood stained with black pigment, white hibiscus petals, coffee and mud. Metaphorically connecting the nail to the Black experience, Peskine depicts figures that reveal strength, perseverance and self-possession. Also on view are new works by Govinda Sah ‘Azad’, an artist from Nepal who is known for his paintings of tempestuous skies and cosmic explosions. The works are informed by Sah’s intriguing ongoing metaphysical musings about the nature of reality. Rachid Koraïchi is represented by a selection of works in different mediums, including two striking etchings from the series A Nation in Exile, rendered in a predominately black palette.
James Barnor: Accra/London
—A Retrospective
Detroit Institute of Arts
OCTOBER GALLERY at 1-54 LONDON |Booth W1
12 – 15 October, 2023
VIP Opening 12 October, 2023
Highlights include new works by Zana Masombuka which encompass photography and beaded steel sculpture from her first London solo exhibition at October Gallery, titled Nges’rhodlweni: A Portal for Black Joy (5th – 30th September, 2023). Masombuka draws inspiration from her upbringing in the small town of Siyabuswa, in rural KwaNdebele, South Africa. Her works deploy Ndebele cultural lore, symbolism and material contrast in a radical re-examination of identity, tradition and culture.
Alexis Peskine presents new large-scale, mixed-media ‘portraits’ of the African diaspora, which are rendered by hammering nails of different gauges, with pin-point accuracy, into wood. By applying gold and silver leaf to the nails, he creates striking images that echo the energy reminiscent of the spiritually charged Minkisi ‘power figures’ of the Congo Basin.
Visceral new rope sculptures hand-sewn by LR Vandy are included. The artist’s manipulation of rope holds both historic and symbolic importance, as it was used in ancient construction and the building of empire and colonialism through shipping, and is associated with slavery, captivity and execution.
Also on view is Buana mbutuku buila (Childhood is a Dark Night), a vibrant new painting by internationally acclaimed Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga from the ongoing Ghost of the Present series.
The presentation includes bold paintings by Owusu-Ankomah from his Microcron series which employ Adinkra symbols and are influenced by Akan philosophies. The human figures in the paintings interact within an ocean of emblems that surround and define them.
Romuald Hazoumè is represented by two of his signature mask works. Composed of miscellaneous found materials, these captivating sculptures are witty portraits that often engage with international affairs to deliver insightful social commentary.
ZANA MASOMBUKA at Gallery OCA
Cromwell Place, The Wing Gallery London SW7 2JE
Taking place at Cromwell Place, the exhibition invites you to step into a world of hybrid identities, where power and vulnerability reverberate in conversation and brings together the unique voices of some of Africa, the Caribbean and the diaspora's boldest voices, presenting a multifaceted perspective on womanhood, shaped by the artists’ defining journeys towards self-actualisation.
AUBREY WILLIAMS at 1-54 presents, Christie’s
Christie’s, London
8 King St, St. James's, London
ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ: 1.5 Degrees: Interdependencies between Life, the Cosmos, and Technology
Kunsthalle Mannheim
1.5 Degrees: Interdependencies between Life, the Cosmos, and Technology examines the complex interaction of human beings, nature and technology. Exploring how the climate crisis influences all areas of life, the premise of the exhibition questions whether the methods by which humankind has developed the world since the beginning of industrialisation are still legitimate. Includes works by Anselm Kiefer, Richard Long and Julian Charrière amongst others.
TAPFUMA GUTSA at É a lama, é a lama (It’s the mud, it’s the mud)
Elizabeth Xi Bauer Gallery, London
É a lama, é a lama is curated by Maria do Carmo M. P. de Pontes.
LR VANDY:Dancing in Time: The Ties That Bind Us
International Slavery Museum, Liverpool
Listen to an interview with LR Vandy on BBC Radio Merseyside at 8.30 pm on Monday, 3rd April.
ALEXIS PESKINE AT:
A Gateway to Possible Worlds:
Art and science-fiction
5 November, 2022 – 10 April, 2023
58th Carnegie International
Various locations, Pittsburgh
The following representation of Laila Shawa’s lithographs of the Walls of Gaza II series will be shown: Passages to Freedom, 12th Century AD, Coke is it! and The Sponsors.
THE MOTH AND THE THUNDERCLAP
Modern Art, Helmet Row, London
Taking its title from a painting by the celebrated American artist Charles Burchfield, The Moth and The Thunderclap aims to show how artists have been compelled to reflect an indeterminate psychological space where nature and culture collide, often filtered through their experience of landscape.
ART DUBAI | Booths E12 and M6
Madinat Jumeirah Conference & Events Centre
Alexis Peskine presents new and recent works for the first time at Art Dubai in their Contemporary section. Peskine creates breathtaking composite images rendered by hammering nails of different gauge, with pin-point accuracy, into wood stained with coffee and mud, followed by applying gold and copper leaf to the nails.
Also on view will be works by El Anatsui, whose metal wall sculptures have provoked a storm of international attention with institutions and audiences over recent years. Anatsui is represented by two vibrant prints from the Circular Series, one in deep blue and the other in gold, that were developed with Factum Arte, Madrid. Alongside these intriguing prints, vivid hard-edged paintings by Jordan Ann Craig will be exhibited which reference the artist’s indigenous Northern Cheyenne culture. Another highlight will be new and recent large-scale paintings by Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, whose work explores the seismic shifts in the economic, political, and social identity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have been taking place since colonialism.
ALEXIS PESKINE AT:
Tiny Traces: African & Asian Children at London’s Foundling Hospital
The exhibition presents a rich history of London life from 1739-1820, with stories of more than a dozen children from the African and Asian diasporas. The works presented form a dialogue with the historical narratives of the hospital, enabling visitors to explore the many emotions arising from the archive and ask questions about the past, present and future.
AUBREY WILLIAMS
at Museum Sztuki
28 October, 2022 – 12 February, 2023
Abu Dhabi Art | Booth M19
17 - 20 November 2022
Highlights include recent paintings by Govinda Sah ‘Azad’, an artist from Nepal, who is known for his paintings of tempestuous skies and cosmic explosions.
On view will be striking, reimaged hard-edged paintings by Jordan Ann Craig, which reference the artist’s indigenous Northern Cheyenne culture.
Rachid Koraïchi’s creative explorations have extended across an impressive array of media, which include ceramics, textiles, bronze, corten steel, wood and paintings on silk, paper or canvas. Three blue and white ceramic jars from the Lachrymatoires Bleues series (2020) will be displayed.
Also presented are selected works by Aubrey Williams, whose paintings are being increasingly recognised as a uniquely evolved expression of abstraction in Caribbean art.
AKAA - Also Known as Africa
(stand B6)
Le Carreau du Temple, Paris
VIP Opening 20th October, 2022
Highlights include a new dynamic installation in the Carreau du Temple by Nnenna Okore, who will also be in Paris to present a talk at the fair on 21st October, with Claire Staebler, Director of FRAC Pays de la Loire (Nantes) as the moderator. Especially made for the fair, Okore’s large-scale installation includes materials such as plastic bags, yarn and sticks, dexterously interwoven in undulating forms. At the Gallery booth, Okore will be represented by Ethereal Beauty, an intricate work, that reveals an extraordinary manifestation of colour and formation, resembling organic elements in nature. For the Bruges Triennial 2021, Nnenna Okore completed a monumental textile installation, And the World Keeps Turning, in which she stretched PVC fabric around the Poertoren (Gunpowder Tower) in Bruges.
Another highlight is Bwira (Getting Dark), a striking work by Alexis Peskine, made from Moon gold leaf, nails, coffee, and earth. Peskine’s practice addresses questions of the Black Experience and references the Congolese wooden effigies, the Minkisi power figures. Nails, in both ancient and contemporary African cultures, are associated with objects of immense symbolic and spiritual power. The artist is also represented by two remarkable portraits created from coffee infused by ink, screen printed onto handmade paper, surrounded by gold leaf.
On view will be several fantastical photographs by Benji Reid, whose works are primarily composed of self-portraits in eye-catching anti-gravitational poses. Reid seduces the viewer by creating alternative realms of hyper-reality, adorned with a medley of marvelous objects, set against imaginary surroundings. Choreography and photography unite in Benji Reid’s evocative images and his works have been shown in MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts), New York, as part of the 2019 exhibition Styles of Resistance: From the Corner to the Catwalk.
Also presented is Lonely Child, a poignant painting by Frantz Lamothe, whose raw and visceral works reflect fragments of his varied past. Born in Haiti in 1961, Lamothe departed the country at the age of four to spend his childhood in Brooklyn; by the age of sixteen he was living on the streets and painting graffiti in the subways of New York. This way of life came to an end when, along with fellow graffiti artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lamothe was taken up by the New York gallery circuit. Lamothe’s work has garnered international acclaim across Europe, Japan, and the USA. He lives and works in Paris, France.
1-54 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART FAIR (Booth W1), SOMERSET HOUSE,LONDON
VIP Opening 13th October, 2022
To celebrate 1-54’s tenth anniversary at Somerset House, October Gallery will exhibit new works by Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Alexis Peskine, LR Vandy, Zana Masombuka and recent sculptures by Sokari Douglas Camp CBE.
Highlights include signature masques bidons (repurposed masks) by Romuald Hazoumè. Composed of miscellaneous found materials, these compelling sculptures are droll portraits that engage with international affairs to deliver a witty social commentary. Carnaval, a solo exhibition of a new body of works by the artist, opens on 6th October at October Gallery and continues until the 26th November, 2022.
October Gallery is proud to present the first international monograph on Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, published by Rizzoli in October 2022, and will hold a book launch on Friday 14th October at 5pm, Booth W1 at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London. The presentation will take place surrounded by a display of new and recent works by the artist amongst others. In his work, Kamuanga explores the seismic shifts in the economic, political, and social identity of Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have been taking place since colonialism. Internationally recognized as one of the most interesting young contemporary African talents, Kamuanga’s work has been shown across Africa, Europe, and the United States.
On view will be two new bold ‘hull’ works made by LR Vandy, whose sculptures often allude to the transportation of migrants as commodities. The artist embellishes them with various materials, including fishing floats, porcupine quills and acupuncture needles, transforming them into ‘masks’. Vandy’s work was exhibited as part of the exhibition Get Up, Stand Up Now, in 2019 at Somerset House.
Alexis Peskine will present works from his recent residency in Florence, including a copper leaf nail ‘portrait’ Ikechukwu, created in 2021. This striking workcomprises earth pigment from the river Arno and nails that are meticulously hammered into wood. Peskine often reflects on his own multicultural heritage by making his pieces in a variety of places.
Also on display will be recent sculptures by Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, including Lace and Heels, a dramatic work created for her recent solo exhibition, Jonkonnu Masquerade at October Gallery in June. The artist’s monumental sculpture Europe Supported by Africa and America is on display at the V&A to complement the Africa Fashion exhibition until 14th May 2023.
Recent photographic works will be presented by Zana Masombuka who draws inspiration from her upbringing in the small town of Siyabuswa, in rural KwaNdebele, South Africa. In collaboration with different photographers, Masombuka situates herself as the subject of an ever-evolving practice that explores culture and identity.
Fayre Share Fayre
South Gallery at the Whitworth, Manchester
Sunday, 4th September, 2022
A work by Benji Reid will be on display.
Radical Landscapes
Tate Liverpool
The exhibition presents rural spaces as sites of artistic inspiration and action, and a heartland for ideas of freedom, mysticism and rebellion. It explores how artists have reclaimed the landscape as a space to make art for everyone, as well as unearth how the countryside has been shaped by our values and use of the land. The show will also consider the human impact on the landscape and ecosystems, by featuring works that reflect on the climate and its impact on the landscape.
Royal Academy of Arts
Summer Exhibition 2022
Kensington + Chelsea
Art Week and Art Trail
James Barnor: Accra/London - A Retrospective
MASI Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland
Organised by the Serpentine Galleries in London, the exhibition documents Barnor’s long career, which encompasses numerous photographic genres, from studio portraiture to photojournalism, fashion editorials and street photography. Through his images, characterised by a direct and a spontaneous approach, his shots recount the social and political changes that marked the recent history of his country and that of London’s African community.
Focusing in particular on the decades from 1950 –1980, the exhibition presents works from the artist’s personal archives, including many unpublished photographs. After MASI Lugano’s venue, the exhibition will be showcased at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Revisiting the Work of Black Artists in Scotland through New Collecting
Gallery of Modern of Art, Glasgow
In collaboration with Mother Tongue — an independent curating duo — the exhibition focuses on showing older works from Glasgow Museums’ collection as well as new acquisitions through the New Collecting Award from the Art Fund. Informed by Mother Tongue’s research, the exhibition reflects on the current and historical presence of Black artists living, working, exhibiting and studying in Scotland. Work by Aubrey Williams forms part of this interesting survey exhibition.
Postwar Modern
New Art in Britain 1945 – 1965
Barbican Centre, London
Focusing on ‘the new’, Postwar Modern features 48 artists, including Aubrey Williams, and around 200 works of painting, sculpture, photography, collage and installation.
This exhibition explores the subjects that most preoccupied artists, among them the body, the post-atomic condition, the Blitzed streetscape, private relationships and imagined future horizons. As well as reconsidering well-known figures, the exhibition foregrounds artists who came to Britain as refugees in addition to female artists who have tended to be overlooked.
Alexis Peskine
Fondation MAM Residency Exhibition
Grand Souza, Littoral, Cameroon
Located in Douala, MAM was formed with the intention of promoting visual and contemporary art from Africa and the Diaspora.
An exhibition of Alexis Peskine's work will be held at Galerie MAM from 15th April – 15th June 2022.
James Barnor:
Ever Young
Barakat Contemporary, Seoul, South Korea
This will be the first presentation of the photographer's work in South Korea.
Homo Faber: Crafting a more human future
Giorgio Cini Foundation, Venice, Italy
Three vases from Rachid Koraïchi's Lachrymatoires Bleues (2020) series will be part of the exhibition Next of Europe. These pieces are based on lachrymatory vases, small glass vials that were originally found in ancient burial chambers, were later believed by the Victorians to be ‘tear gatherers’ and used to collect the tears shed at the loss of a loved one. While contemplating the unending wars in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iraq today, and the endless streams of refugees fleeing their homes in search of a new life in the west, Koraïchi conceived this series as symbolic repositories for the countless uncollected tears spilled because of the individual human tragedies associated with these ongoing events.
Life Between Islands
Caribbean British Art
1950s – Now
TATE Britain, London
This exhibition celebrates how people from the Caribbean have forged new communities and identities in post-war Britain - and in doing so have transformed what British culture and society looks like today. The exhibition features over 40 artists, including Aubrey Williams, Donald Locke, Horace Ové, Sonia Boyce, Claudette Johnson, Peter Doig, Frank Bowling, Donald Locke, Hew Locke and Alberta Whittle.
FNB Art Joburg
14th edition online
with Artsy
Sokari Douglas Camp first exhibited at October Gallery in 1985. She has had more than forty solo shows worldwide and in 2005, was awarded a CBE in recognition of her services to art. In 2012, her large sculpture, All the World is Now Richer, a memorial to commemorate the abolition of slavery, was exhibited in The House of Commons and then in 2014 at St Paul’s Cathedral, London. The piece is currently on display at until Westminster City Council Offices until January 2022.
In her sculptures, LR Vandy brings together both found and made objects in order to create new meaning. In her ‘Hull’ series, Vandy transforms model boat hulls into ‘masks’, animating them with materials, including fishing floats, porcupine quills and acupuncture needles. The hulls allude to the transportation of migrants as commodities. As masks they present a transformation of identity, drawing upon the tradition of talismans, charms and amulets.
In 2019, the large-scale piece Superhero Cog Woman was part of Frieze Sculpture, London and also installed at Holland Park as part of Kensington and Chelsea Art Week 2021. Her work is in various private collections and was acquired by the British Museum.
Art X Lagos
Online Fair
A selection of works by Ablade Glover, Alexis Peskine and Benji Reid as well as prints by Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga will be exhibited by October Gallery.
Alexis Peskine’s works are large-scale mixed media ‘portraits’ created by hammering gold leafed nails into wood stained with coffee, hibiscus and mud. He depicts figures that portray strength, perseverance and self-possession, with energy startlingly reminiscent of the Minkisi “power figures” of the Congo Basin.
Benji Reid’s breathtaking photographs, comprised primarily of self-portraits in incredible, anti-gravitational poses with a medley of props draw the audience into a different dimension. Reid's work was exhibited in >Get Up, Stand Up Now, curated by Zak Ové, at Somerset House, London, 2019. His work is in the collection of the Harn Museum of Art, Florida, USA. In 2021, October Gallery presented Benji Reid: Laugh at Gravity the artist’s first solo show at the Gallery.
In a career spanning over five decades as an exhibiting artist, Ablade Glover is one of Ghana’s foremost painters. Ablade Glover’s paintings celebrate his passion for the colours and energy of Ghana. From bustling markets to trees bursting with yellow leaves, Glover’s paintings glow with movement and colour. October Gallery has exhibited the work of Glover since 1982. His work can be found in many important public and private collections worldwide.
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga explores the shifts in the economic, political and social identity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His highly sought after compositions possess a depth of historical understanding, with a striking interplay of the intensity of space juxtaposed with emptiness.
Romuald Hazoumè
Expression(s) décoloniale(s) #2
Château des ducs de Bretagne
Musée d'histoire de Nantes
For this second edition of Expression(s) décoloniale(s) visitors are encouraged to question their views by encountering a variety of historical discourses on the Atlantic slave trade and slavery. Romuald Hazoumè’s works create an uninterrupted dialogue between the past and the present.
AKAA - Also Known as Africa
Art & Design Fair
Paris
In 2020, James Barnor received an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society. The following year the Serpentine, London, presented James Barnor: Accra/London - A Retrospective. Also in 2021, James Barnor – Ghanaian Modernist was on display at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery as part of Bristol Photo Festival.
Rafael Trelles’ oil paintings explore humankind’s ever-changing relationship with the natural world and the intricate web of interdependencies humans share with the plants and animals of their surrounding environment. The works exhibited at AKAA are part of the artist’s
New works by LR Vandy will be exhibited as well as works by Alexis Peskine and Benji Reid.
James Barnor: Accra/London - A Retrospective
Serpentine North Gallery
Born in 1929 in Ghana, James Barnor established his famous Ever Young studio in Accra in the early 1950s, capturing a nation on the cusp of independence in an ambiance animated by conversation and highlife music. In 1959 he arrived in London, furthering his studies and continuing assignments for influential South African magazine Drum which reflected the spirit of the era and the experiences of London’s burgeoning African diaspora. He returned to Ghana in the early 1970s to establish the country’s first colour processing lab while continuing his work as a portrait photographer and embedding himself in the music scene. He returned to London in 1994.
Free entry but booking required.
Contemporary Ceramic Art from the Middle East
Victoria & Albert Museum
Complementing the V&A’s internationally important collection of historical ceramics from the Middle East and North Africa, this exhibition feature works by a selection of the key artists practising today in the Middle East and North Africa, or in diaspora, who use ceramic as a medium of artistic expression. The display will include works by Rachid Koraïchi.
1-54
Contemporary African Art Fair
Somerset House, London
Stand W1
The Gallery will also, for the first time, present works by Frantz Lamothe at 1-54. Also on display will be new works by LR Vandy including an incredible new work which is based on the artist’s Dynamo Woman series.
Investec Cape Town Art Fair
Digital Event
Running in parallel with their sister fair in Milan; miart international modern and contemporary art fair, this event provides a unique opportunity where VIPs, galleries, and visitors will have access to a much broader audience across two continents and two fairs.
Featuring work by James Barnor, Sokari Douglas Camp, Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga, Alexis Peskine, Benji Reid, Rafael Trelles and LR Vandy.
October Gallery at
Photo London
Somerset House, London
James Barnor: Accra/London - A Retrospective at the Serpentine, London, continues during the fair. October Gallery’s booth at Photo London will feature works on display at this seminal exhibition. Also included are newly released photographs by artist Benji Reid, whose solo show Laugh at Gravity is held concurrently at October Gallery.
Romuald Hazoumè
Slavery: Ten True Stories
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Romuald Hazoumè's monumental installation La Bouche du Roi is a highlight of the exhibition. In 2006 the work was acquired by the British Museum and in 2007 was presented at the museum in collaboration with October Gallery. The piece is a powerful tribute to those who suffered the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
Romuald Hazoumè
Portable Sculpture
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
The exhibition explores a variety of responses to circumstances in which permanence is difficult to achieve. A combination of unstable geopolitics and sweeping economic change during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has made questions about home and identity, migration and travel, or stability and impermanence ever more pressing..
Reflections: contemporary art of the Middle East and North Africa
British Museum
Featuring around 100 works on paper – from etchings to photographs and artists' books – the majority of works in the exhibition have been collected in the past decade. They highlight topics of gender, identity, history and politics, while also exploring poetic traditions and the intersections between past and present. There is no single narrative but a multiplicity of stories. Works by Rachid Koraïchi and Golnaz Fathi will be exhibited.
Romuald Hazoumè
Africa Reborn
Musée du quai Branly
Jacques Chirac, Paris
Kensington Chelsea Art Week
A large Jesmonite sculpture from the series Superhero Cog Woman by LR Vandy, acting as a tribute to women throughout time, will be exhibited as part of KCAW21.
WOMEN ARTISTS: Inside/Out
CAP Kuwait
1-54 NEW YORK
ONLINE FAIR
1-54 Online, powered by Christie’s, features virtual booths with 360° viewing rooms.
FRIEZE NEW YORK ONLINE VIEWING ROOM
The booth will feature Sequita (2020) by Alexis Peskine as part of a series of initiatives comprising the tribute to the Vision & Justice Project and Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, Associate Professor at Harvard University, as organised by Frieze New York. The project wrestles with the urgent question of how, in a democracy, the foundational right of representation and the right to be recognised justly, has historically—and is still—tied to the work of visual representation in the public realm.
UNTITLED, ART
Miami Beach
Online Viewing Rooms
Abu Dhabi
Virtual Art Fair
October Gallery presents a selection of Rachid Koraïchi’s works created during this past year of global crisis, including three blue and white ceramic vases from the Lachrymatoires Bleues series, one set of seven paintings from the Handkerchiefs of Hope series and one large etching, Le Jardin d’Afrique, along with other works.
In his most recent series, Govinda Sah has looked to the Moon for inspiration. Sah’s work balances traditional Eastern metaphysical insights about the nature of reality with visual realisations that are in accord with the latest formulations of contemporary western science, imagining a cosmos of boundless possibilities.
EL ANATSUI MAJOR SURVEY:
TRIUMPHANT SCALE
13 March - 1 November 2020
Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar Museum
1 October 2019 – 2 February 2020
Haus der Kunst, Munich
8 March – 28 July 2019
1-54 London
Booth No. W1
The fair will coincide with Alexis Peskine: Fire Figures, at October Gallery, a solo exhibition of new works by the artist.
For this edition of 1-54, LR Vandy has created a new installation which is a continuation of her 'Hull' series.
This year, Benji Reid was announced the recipient of The Wellcome Photography Prize 2020 for the category Mental Health (single image). Reid was awarded the prize for his work Holding onto Daddy a “love note” to his daughter.
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga was recently announced as one of Apollo Magazine's 40 Under 40 Africa Artists.
JUKHEE KWON, THE LIGHTNESS OF A MOMENT
Until 30th September
LATITUDES (ONLINE)
FRIEZE NEW YORK ONLINE VIEWING ROOM
The virtual booth explored Burroughs’ interest in the relationship between word and image. Burroughs thought in images and symbols, this is visible in both his writing and paintings. He was influenced by process art, recombinant art, and incorporating text into paintings.
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR
Booth D13
THE MOON
19 July 2019 – 5 January 2020
EL ANASTUI: TSIATSIA –SEARCHING FOR CONNECTION
February to December 2019
GET UP, STAND UP NOW
12 June – 15 September 2019
MAGDALENE ODUNDO: THE JOURNEY OF THINGS -FEATURING EL ANATSUI
Hepworth Wakefield
3 August – 15 December 2019
Sainsbury Centre, Norwich
HUANG XU AND JUKHEE KWON AT ASIA HOUSE
10 January – 30 November 2109
Jukhee Kwon:
10 September – 30 November 2019
ABU DHABI ART
21 - 23 November 2019
1-54 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART FAIR, LONDON
FRIEZE SCULPTURE PARK 2019
6 July - 6 October 2019
AKAA (Also Known As Africa)
9 - 11 November 2019
PRÊTE-MOI TON RÊVE
(LEND ME YOUR DREAM)
13 June – 15 August 2019
SYLVIE FRANQUET: reCOLLECTING
6 April - 17 June 2019
1-54 CONTEMPORARY AFRICA ART FAIR, NEW YORK
3 - 5 May 2019
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR
15 - 17 February 2019