October 8 - November 10, 2018
Tabari Artspace is proud to announce its first exhibition of contemporary African art that spotlights the uncommon elements of today’s thriving African arts scene.
In collaboration with Arthouse Foundation, a Nigerian initiative known for supporting local creative talent through international residency programs, Tabari Artspace will display the works of three of the Foundation’s promising artists - painter Nengi Omuku, mixed media artist Tyna Adebowale, visual artist Thierry Oussou and sculpture artist Socari Douglas Camp.
This collaboration draws awareness to a lesser-known aesthetic in African art, opening up a discourse around contemporary perspectives that deal with the issues of ‘now’ ranging from gender, identity, and mental health to the repatriation of African artefacts as highlighted in Oussou’s recent works. African art exhibition reflects Tabari Artspace’s long-standing commitment to nurturing the careers of emerging artists and providing them with a platform from which to showcase their works to the greater world.
The four selected artists are characteristic of the new wave of African creatives that are doing things differently, striking out from the tired themes and narratives that once typified the African art market. Oussou recently made international headlines through his ‘faked’ archeological dig, a performance in Southern Benin designed to draw attention to the African artworks and artefacts that he believes have been plundered from their homeland. Omuku is known for her vibrant and arresting paintings that detail her fixation with the politics of the body while Adebowale utilises texts, pigments and found materials to relay the poignant issues faced by the women of her nation today.