A double-decker bus painted with a cartoon face greets visitors to the grounds of Somerset House this fall for the return of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. This year’s yard commission was awarded to young artist Olaolu Slawn (b. 2000), whose street art has earned him an incredible number of Instagram followers and an important cache of global fashion. The British icon of a double-decker bus told the leaders that Slawn and 1-54 had an expanded view of modern African art, paying respect to African artists abroad. Of course, a reluctant artist may reject such good intentions, i terrible childInstagram bio reading “I’m not an artist, I paint like a 6 year old”.
The centerpiece of the 1-54 had changed, but little else seemed different this year; indeed, several galleries were showing the same pieces they had last year. I found myself thinking this as I wandered through the sixty or so booths. Similar to last year, black figurative painting was the order of the day—the most successful of these was a symbolic experiment; those who, as John Baptiste-Oduor noted in his January 2024 Frieze essay on contemporary black figurative painting, see “the representation of black figures as a legitimate problem.”
One of my favorites was Abe Obedina at Ed Cross, his rounded figures, reminiscent of Edward Burra and Beryl Cook, rendered in dirty scuffed colors. His characters feel trapped in this action, Michael Fried might say they feel fascinated. Another moving painting at the end of the booth was tall and slender and depicted a ladder reaching up to heaven, with Black feet dangling from the top. One had a fit man knee-deep in water holding a golden-skinned fish. Another artist highlight was Nicholas Coleman at AM/PM whose seascapes spoke to him, as his gallery explains, of the distance and connection of many peoples of the land and the atlantic slave trade.
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My favorite works of the exhibition were displayed by the traveling gallery The Gallery of Everything, which featured pieces by Abu Bakkar Mansaré and Emmanuel Bottalata. Mansaré houses The secret and invention of the Coronavirus (2023) includes two pieces, one illustration and one text, which describes the exciting and deceptive birth of the coronavirus pandemic, these two bold designs felt original and showed an edge and a feeling that was somewhat muted in this exhibition. Bottalata displayed three-dimensional maps depicting political issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, from evangelism to corruption and overcrowding, in a new and provocative way.
Across the hall from the Gallery of Everything, in the center of the art exhibit, was a separate Somerset House exhibit, “Rukus!,” a study of Black British gay art and activism from the 1970s. I spent a lot of time unintentionally in this corner of a provocative and inspiring building. It made a difference unfortunately. The notable lack of challenging or experimental activities on the 1-54 made it a somewhat pedestrian affair this year. The motivations behind 1-54 and the platform given to African shows and artists are always important and admirable, but I hope to see more of the spunk Abu Bakkar Mansaré and Emmanuel Bottalata bring to this show. Performances like Looty’s, which last year reauthorized stolen works like Rosetta Stone, pushed the show into a more engaging space, making it both event and art. This year, I left with a somewhat lukewarm feeling.
