African art in the 20th century and beyond

Since the groundbreaking exhibitions “Primitivism in Twentieth Century Art” (1984) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and “Magiciens de la Terre” (1989) at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, art historians and critics have struggled to accommodate contemporary African art within the discourse of modern and African art history. Such scholars as Marshall Mount, Ulli Beier, Susan Vogel, Sidney Kasfir, and others have attempted to find common elements in contemporary African art, but such art remains tied to specific histories and colonial and postcolonial conditions. What appears to be a dazzling heterogeneity of art styles is the consequence of the plural modernisms and national styles that emerged after the end of diverse experiences of colonialism and independence.

The rise of globalization and the ongoing African diaspora increased the heterogeneity and multiplicity of allusions characteristic of contemporary African art. Not only did artists work within localized African and diasporic perspectives, but they also experimented with new media, including motion pictures, installation, performance, and other formats once exclusively Western. The Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art in Dakar, the Cairo Biennale, the Johannesburg Biennale, the Bamako Biennale, and FESPACO (a forum for African cinema) all served as sites for the unveiling of new, complex, and innovative art forms as well as the introduction of gifted artists to an international audience. Such artists, however, should not be viewed as representative of major movements within contemporary African art, as those movements remain country-specific. Instead, their work shares an interest in the issue of identity and in the history of colonialism, nationalism, and modernity.

One of the earliest artists to receive international attention was the Kinshasa-based Chéri Samba, whose appearance in “Magiciens de la Terre” brought world attention to urban sign art. Like the painter Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu, also from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Samba had no formal training, and his style was improvisational and eclectic. Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu’s political commentary, however, is sombre; many of his paintings focus on the capture and death of Congolese political leader Patrice Lumumba (e.g., La Mort historique de Lumumba). Kane Kwei is another artist who exhibited in the “Magiciens” show and whose lack of formal training did not affect his international popularity. The fantastically ornamented coffins in the shape of hens, cocoa pods, airplanes, and Mercedes Benzes that he created for wealthy Ghanaian patrons continue to capture world attention. The pseudoarchitectural structures assembled by Bodys Isek Kingelez, an artist trained in the restoration of masks at the National Museum of Kinshasa (Congo), also received international recognition and appear to echo the impact of Modernism on African architecture.

In the wake of the “Magiciens” show, African critics and intellectuals voiced opposition to this relatively narrow presentation of the artistic production of the continent. The sophisticated and abstracted forms of artists Twins Seven Seven and Ben Osawe and the lush and bold canvases of Uche Okeke, all from Nigeria, illustrate the degree of engagement on the part of contemporary African artists with the discourse of Modernism. The installations of Benin artist Georges Adéagbo, such as From Colonialization to Independence (1999), which employs traditional art forms and elements of visual culture to depict the decolonization process; the striking images of Ethiopian Gebre Kristos Desta, a leading painter, poet, and teacher who studied clerical literature and the religious art of the Eastern Coptic Orthodox tradition before becoming an artist; and the beautiful and evocative abstractions of Kamala Ishaq, from Sudan, reveal the richness and variety of African engagement with this discourse. Although North Africa has received less attention in international exhibitions, the abstractions of Ahmed Cherkaoui of Morocco—which combine Cherkaoui’s mastery of Islamic calligraphy with his appreciation for the work of Paul Klee—and the striking installations of Ghada Amer of Egypt, which employ textile arts to comment on issues related to female sexuality, underscore the range and multinational focus of contemporary art production.

It should be noted that the influence of specific movements and nationalisms on contemporary African art production has been significant. The pan-African philosophy of Léopold Senghor, who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80) and a proponent of the philosophy of Negritude, is evident in the work of the first generation of Senegalese painters, organized into the École de Dakar. In Ghana, the first Black African country south of the Sahara to achieve independence, the influence of Pres. Kwame Nkrumah (1957–66) led to a great emphasis on the arts and the rise of artists, such as the sculptor Vincent Kofi and the painter Kofi Antubam.

During the last few decades, South Africa has experienced a florescence of contemporary art production, much of which comments on apartheid (an official policy of racial separation and discrimination from 1948 to the early 1990s) and its aftermath. The intense abstractions of Ernest Mancoba, the poignant vision of street life depicted by Gerard Sokoto, the anguished sculpture of Sydney Kumalo, the abrupt and almost violent abstractions of Cecil Skotnes, and the devastating power of John Muafangejo’s prints all attest, if only metaphorically, to the tensions and contradictions of the apartheid state. In Gavin Jantjes’s work, the conditions of a racially segregated state were directly addressed in silkscreened “cartoons” that juxtaposed bright blocks of colour with the harsh realities of South African life in the apartheid era. Moshekwa Langa’s collaged media elements similarly presented a haunting vision of racial classification and oppression. Jane Alexander’s sculptural installation, Butcher Boys (1985), is equally charged: the figures are nude, masked, and immobile, seeming to observe what is wrong in society yet finding no will to act. William Kentridge’s work in a range of media and Sue Williamson’s powerful set of passbooks in the assemblage For Thirty Years Next to His Heart (1990) are equally evocative and demonstrate the sophisticated installation technique of the contemporary South African artist.

In the realm of photography perhaps no artist is more internationally recognized than Malian Seydou Keïta. His portraits constructed a vision of the residents of Bamako, the capital city of what was then French Sudan, in the 1940s and ’50s as modern, beautiful, and urbane. Cameroon-born photographer Samuel Fosso explored the genre of the self-portrait by adopting fictitious personas marked by satire and pathos. Malian Malick Sidibé, born in a small village, studied at the École des Artisans Soudanais in Bamako, where he opened his own studio; he became internationally known during the “Premieres Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine” for such haunting images as Look at Me (1962). The South African photographer Santu Mofokeng created in the exhibition “Black Photo Album/Look at Me: 1890–1950” a striking exploration of history and identity. The exhibition showcased photographs of working-class Black South Africans that had been digitally reworked by the artist. Also South African, Zwelethu Mthethwa is known for his brightly colored photographs of people living in poverty in settlements around Cape Town.

The number of artists working with photography and film increased greatly during the latter half of the 20th century. In the realm of cinema, N. Frank Ukadike and Manthia Diawara, among others, have documented the emergence of a rich cinematic tradition in West and South Africa. Increasing attention was also directed to the role of contemporary visual culture in Africa, particularly after the groundbreaking exhibition curated by Okwui Enwezor, “The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945–94.” It should be noted that visual culture in Africa includes popular dress, posters, postcards, and hand-painted signs, cartoons, and other visual media not encompassed within the category of “fine” art.

In the early 21st century many contemporary African artists created work within diasporic societies in the United States and Europe. The delicate and haunting landscapes of the Sudanese-born Ibrahim El-Salahi and the striking abstract sculpture of Amir Nour, also of Sudan, illustrate the richness of this diasporic tradition. Ouattara Watts, originally from Côte d’Ivoire and now living in New York City, produced striking collages and installations that draw from West African architectural forms and occult signs. Nigerian-born Iké Udé, also based in New York City, manipulated the texts of popular culture to examine modes of representation. In Cover Girl, for example, he photographed himself in different disguises, creating from these photographs covers for such magazines as Vogue, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Town and Country, and Harper’s Bazaar. The London-based Nigerian Yinka Shonibare created spectacular installations employing textiles made in so-called traditional styles.

It should be noted that the art that was considered “traditional”—masks, sculpture, ceramics, and the like—continued to be made in Africa at the beginning of the 21st century. The production of tourist art for the West was an important outlet for artistic creativity. It effectively illustrated the continuity in the connection with non-African cultures evident in the Afro-Portuguese ivories created in the 15th century.