"The problem with African contemporary art is...?"

ABOUT

This exhibition showcases the work made by 9 artists within the umbrella project "The problem with African Contemporary Art is....?"

In May 2021, META foundation and Studio Nxumalo invited nine artists who are actively operating at various levels of experience as contemporary artists who are contributing to the South African visual arts landscape - all nine artists are currently living and working in and around Johannesburg, South Africa. Some of the artists who are featured in this project have exhibited their works with world-renowned galleries, shown works on international Biennales, whilst others are yet to present their solo exhibitions and are participating for the first time on a project of this calibre.

The idea of this segment of the project was intended at engaging featured artists about the idea of the African moment (the recent global excitement with contemporary art that is created by African artists both from the African continent and the diaspora) as one leg of the project that happened in conjunction with a series of talks that were led by various contributors who are practitioners or affiliated with the visual arts landscape through writing, speaking, curating, zine and publication’s development.

The participating artists were paired with four visual artists who took up the mentorship role and assisted the featured artists to develop, polish and execute their ideas. The final outcome of this engagement is a portfolio that directly explores the question; The Problem With African Contemporary Art Is…?

This portfolio requires the audience to read it as an artist led dialog, that intends to give a glimpse into positions of artists from the African continent. Their journey with this question became an opportunity to overtly explore and respond from their own professional and personal experience - as a result, they have explored ideas such as Femmesploitation, The Problems Of The Western Lens and the unfavourable positions that artists from the African continent finds themselves in…Constantly Negotiating Their Existence Within The Art Market.

All these ideas and more are contained in a portfolio of a series of nine prints (each with 10 editions) that we hope will contribute in conscientizing and encouraging more dialogs about the intricacies of African Contemporary Art to happen to a broader audience.

Featured Artists: Jan Maanda Tshikhuthula, Lebogang Mogul Mabusela, Kaelik Dullaart, Madikotsi “Mummy” Khumalo, Khotso Motsoeneng, Richard “Specs” Ndimande, Fleur de Bondt and Johan Stegmann

Mentoring Artists: Mary Sibande, Bevan de Wet, Nandipha Mntambo and Michele Rolstone

DIRECTIONS