The European Art panorama does not do justice to the extended and multi-coloured African artistic scenery.
Big cities host every day new aesthetic concepts, Gallery 1957 is a great example of such tendency: opened on the 6th of March of 2016 and located in Accra, the gallery has already presented various exhibitions.
Founded by Marwan Zakhem, this space is the result of more than fifteen years of researches, also made by Nana Oforiatta Ayim founder of ANO and main curator of the gallery.
The name recalls the year when Ghana gained its independency from Great Britain.
“I first started collecting contemporary art when I moved to Africa. The work I encountered in Senegal and Ghana had a real aesthetic power to it while reflecting the society of our time. […] There is an abundance of talented artists from West Africa who is deserving of increased visibility.” Marwan Zakhem
The opening exhibited ‘My Mother’s Wardrobe’ an installation created by Sergge Attukwei Clottey (founder of the GoLokal collective) displaying a series of common objects that used to belong to his family.
On the 6th of March – Ghana’s Independence day and Gallery 1957’s second anniversary – the gallery will present the work of Florine Demosthene entitled ‘The Stories I Tell Myself’.
Born in the United States and raised between Port-au-Prince, Haiti and New York the mixed-media artist has lived in Africa for the past four years: this experience became a chance to explore themes such as race and gender in a biographical way, while using this direct observation she casts new light on socio-political structures and conditions that surround black female sexuality and physicality today.
“For me, my art has been a peeling away of layers of preconceived ideas; much in the way a snake sheds its skin, this slow shedding process can be viewed as a continual rebirth of our identity.” Florine Demosthene
Her works are the result of this believe, visually resulting in a combination of figurative and abstract marks that create alternative landscapes presenting her heroines.
Dates: 6th March – 6th May 2018
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