5 African artists that you should know if you love contemporary art

April 03, 2019 at 16:54 a.m.


5 African artists that you should know if you love contemporary art


Contemporary African artists They combine diverse artistic currents and fuse them with the art of their land.

To Africa, we owe everything.

Science says that we come from there and maybe that's why we can not be indifferent to it.

Their rhythms, paintings, music, textiles and colors.

Of course, neither to their thirst for justice, their multiple protests and unattainable struggle to defend Mother Nature.

Africa is the mother of the continents and its artists have a lot to say.

The contemporary African artistic scene is characterized by a wide and dynamic range of artists.

These innovate in aesthetics and conceptual depth. Generally, from the dissidence.

In addition, they use their creations to interpret and represent the socio-economic realities of the continent.

As well as its political and traditions challenges.

Here we present you 5 African artists that influence the evolution of contemporary art in the black continent.


Aida Muluneh (Ethiopia, 1974)

 

Aida is the founder and director of Addis Foto Fest (AFF), the first international photography festival in East Africa created at 2010 in Addis Ababa.

He currently lives in Canada where he educates and develops cultural projects with local and international institutions.

Its objective is to capture images of societies juxtaposed between modernity, tradition, reality and the hope of change.

His work explores critical dialogue. When she was a teenager she realized how images could create or distort realities.

For this reason, she became a photographer from 16 years of age.


Boris Nzebo (Gabon, 1979)

 

Nzebo makes paintings that are inspired by the surroundings of the city where he lives, Douala the largest in Cameroon.

It uses a palette of strong colors that evokes the murals and graffiti of the street culture found in the suburbs.

Although he sometimes embodies the kitsch style, his works are instantly recognizable.

The stylized execution of Nzebo owes much to the painted advertisements of the barber shops of Cameroon, since it takes advantage of the language of advertising.

With them, he creates portraits of detailed studies of traditional African hairstyles.

And it combines them with informal snapshots of local neighborhoods, urban architecture and scenes from everyday life.


Nú Barreto (Guinea-Bissau, 1966)

 

For this artist living in Paris, man is an absolute enigma.

Barreto is multidisciplinary and seeks to awaken the viewer through his paintings, drawings, photographs and videos.

Its main motivation is to condemn acts of oppression and denounce misery.

As well as the suffering that afflicts the African continent.

He incorporates in his work the language of forms, symbolic colors and motifs full of meaning.


Ernest Dükü (Ivory Coast, 1958)

 

For Dükü, who lives in Paris, the call of Africa and its openness to the world are the two most present themes in his work.

In his work, they combine drawing in universes full of symbols and color.

Although initially his works were more marked by plastic research, aesthetics ended up intervening.

With this, he achieves a convergence where now his new perspective combines elements of painting and sculpture.


The Anatsui (Ghana, 1944)

 

One of the most influential African artists of the continent, the sculptor El Anatsui is at the forefront of the contemporary art scene.

He has received international recognition for his unusual sculptural works.

He is a professor in the Department of Sculpture at the University of Nigeria.

Anatsui prefers clay and wood. His work is loaded with a message about social, political and historical concerns.

He has also done installations and sewing, in which he uses unconventional materials such as chainsaws and power tools.