A Tapestry of Talent: Celebrating Generational and Stylistic Diversity in Contemporary African Art

The exhibition provided a glimpse into the wealth and enormous diversity of contemporary African art with the presentation of recent works by 10 artists, representing four generations. Although this was only a glimpse of the multi-faceted appearance of contemporary African art, we were extremely proud of the quality and versatility of the work brought to the Netherlands for this exhibition. For example, the well-known color specialist Sam Ovraiti (Nigeria) showed acrylic paintings that seemed like a cross between Picasso and the coloring and lighting of the French Impressionists. Librist Eddy Masumbuku (DR Congo) combined mysterious abstract iconic heads in flowing layers of grayish tones on bright areas of color. Sébastien Boko (Benin) created lyrical semi-figurative sculptures with a surreal twist in wood and metal. Kingsley Ogwara (Luxembourg/Nigeria) composed large, abstract, colorful compositions with a lot of texture, which took the shape of crowds. Patrick Musombwa (France/DRC) showed expressionist abstracts with a figurative hint and a hint of Edvard Munch. In contrast, there were wall sculptures made of aluminum foil by Yusuf Seido Okus (Nigeria) and the subdued, stylized pen drawings with coffee on paper by Abdoul Ganiou Dermani (Germany/Togo). Emerging talents Barry Nzennaya (Nigeria), Gabriel Jideonwor (Nigeria) and Benigno Mangovo (Angola) complemented the whole with paintings in cubist, abstract figurative expressionist and abstract surrealist styles respectively. In short, it was an eclectic overview that defied any stereotyping of African art.