africanah.org

Fifteen years ago Chris Ofili made “sick stuff” according to the mayor of New York. He is back in town now with an exhibition – ‘Night and Day’ – in the New Museum.
The reactions on this show are completely different. No accusations of blasphemy. No angry visitors. Ofili’s return is the return of a hero of British contemporary art. The critics hardly have enough words to praise the artist. “Breathtaking”; “(…) an endless sensuous dive into the most carnivalesque pleasures of painting”; “His paintings mesmerize (…)”; “Great art” etc. etc.
What happened? Did the city change? Did the audience change? Did the time change? Did the artist change?
Rob Perrée tries to give an answer.

The Healer, 2008.

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“Contemporary Art even today is still an activity for the elite in Brazil. The elite are a small group of people that descents from and still owns former plantation properties and/or the fruits of that today. Brazil is a class system, 80% poor people, the “one per centers” and a very small middle class. That with a very poor education system makes that only a few can afford to have good private education in and outside of Brazil. The descendents of the enslaved Africans are still the poor people of today in Brazil. This is even more the case if you talk about the 7% black (preto) people”.

Sasha Dees is looking for black artists in Rio de Janeiro.

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“The fact that Other cultures have been left out of the Stedelijk museum up to the 21st is actually very striking. The museum doesn’t harshly confront itself or the visitor with this disclosure. Instead it moves around the painful stuff, and just plainly states that it is now for the first time looking for art from other places, from the rest of the world. And that is perhaps a missed chance to make a strong statement about museums, colonialism and our heritage.”
Jesse Vissers writes a critical essay on the exhibition ‘How Far How Near’ in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Picture: Billie Zangewa, Midnight Aura, 2012.
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“Historically, feminist spirituality in art and thought (including cultural feminism) has searched for a language to counter patriarchal violence enacted upon female bodies. At a time of continued violence, MaÏmouna’s work invites a process of re-visiting these histories, and their significance to artists working currently, across generations and geographies.”
Yvette Greslé in her essay on Patrizia Guerresi Maïmouna.

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“You allow me to glare into your eyes, with your hands steady on the table. You are calling for attention, not to your ego, but to your eyes, the window into your soul, as fractured as it is.”
Emmanuel Iduma speaks to Carrie Mae Weems.

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