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Artistes africains: 1882 aujourd'hui

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L'ouvrage le plus complet jamais publié sur les artistes modernes et contemporains, nés ou vivant en Afrique. Alors que l'art du continent africain acquiert de plus en plus de visibilité à travers le monde, ce volume présente plus de 300 artistes en activité de 1882 à nos jours. Chacun d'entre eux est représenté par une oeuvre emblématique et un texte détaillé sur son travail. Réalisée par un panel d'experts, cette sélection unique est précédée d'une introduction de Chika Okeke-Agulu, professeur d'histoire de l'art de l'Afrique et de la diaspora africaine à l'université de Princeton et accompagnée d'un glossaire de Joseph L. Underwood de la Kent State University. Parmi les artistes présentés, citons Adel Abdessemed, Aboudia, John Akomfrah, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Ghada Amer, El Anatsui, Michael Armitage, Roger Ballen, Amoako Boafo, Candice Breitz, Lisa Brice, Chéri Samba, Marlene Dumas, Ben Enwonwu, Samuel Fosso, David Goldblatt, Seydou Keïta, William Kentridge, Esther Mahlangu, Julie Mehretu, Mahmoud Mukhtar, Wangechi Mutu, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Aina Onabolu, Robin Rhode, Yinka Shonibare, Malick Sidibé, Irma Stern, Guy Tillim et Sue Williamson.

352 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 2021

205 people want to read

About the author

Phaidon Press

217 books422 followers
Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional offices in Paris and Berlin. -wikipedia

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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for mol.
592 reviews
February 23, 2022
4 stars, finished
as someone who has little to no knowledge of african art, this was an incredibly interesting and informative read. the range of the art being presented is incredible, all the different concepts and artistic styles adding their own individual and vital piece to the book. my favorites were:

- pg 24: Amina Agueznay's Skin
- pg 36: Clay Apenouvon's Film Noir Cadre Doré 2—"The formless spill from the church altar announced a central motif of this elegiac series entitled 'Film Noir', which includes this work, where the trauma of Africa's colonial and postcolonial histories oozes from the gilt frame."
- pg 39: Atong Atem's Self Portrait on Mercury
- pg 45: Sammy Baloji's Mémoire, Untitled #6—"Although known for his photography, Baloji's true medium is memory...In 2006, Baloji produced a series of composite photographs that show the mines of Lubumbashi as they are now and as they once were."
- pg 52: Willie Bester's Social Engineering—"...perhaps emphasizing the vitality of township life in relation to the type of living mainstream society promotes for its citizens."
- pg 60: Kwesi Botchway's Green Fluffy Coat—"The skin of his cubjects starts with a rich purple pigment as a way to imbue his figures with a sense of royalty, and they are often adorned in jewels, headwraps, and luxurious garments." (mirrors Girl with a Pearl Earring)
- pg 65: Nabil Boutros' Egyptians. The Suit Makes The Man—"In these works Boutros fashions himself as a range of Egyptian characters both observed and imagined, exploring how people communicate their identities—class, social, and religious—through dress, facial hair, and personal style."
- pg 74: Nidhal Chamekh's Nos Visages
- pg 94: Marlene Dumas' Moshekwa—"I want to give him a blue forehead, because I want to give him the night sky."
- pg 111: Modupeola Fadugba's Pink Honey
- pg 112: Rotomi Fani-Kayode's Sonponnoi—"Evoking Babalú-Ayé, the Yoruba diety also known as the god of smallpox, the portrait alludes to the orisha's divine powers to inflict and cure disease, illuminating the fragility of the body during the height of the AIDS epidemic, with the artist's own life cut tragically short at the age of thirty-four."
- pg 127: Gabrielle Goliath's Elegy (video installation)
- pg 152: Nadia Kaabi-Linke's Flying Carpets—"Through this piece, Kaabi-Linke sheds new light on the mythical associations of the magical flying carpet, undercutting the romantic fairytale by setting it against the difficult reality of the immigrant experience in Venice and beyond."
- pg 177: Jems Koko Bi's No Man's Land—"The trees give me instructions and I carry them out in the wood. They advise me and I tell their stories."
- pg 220: Nandipha Mntambo's Emabutfo
- pg 242: Paul Ndema's The Last Supper
- pg 260: Nnenna Okore's Nkata (in krannert @ uiuc!)
- pg 284: Berni Searle's 'Color Me' series—"The spices represent the racial classifications of apartheid, as well as the spice and slave trade that occurred throughout Africa. The works also signify the consumption and commodification of women's bodies—and the power inherent in those bodies."
- pg 294: Mary Sibande's A Reversed Retrogress: Scene 1
- pg 295: Malick Sidibé's Nuit de Noël (Happy Club)—"The timing of the shot, with both dancers having one foot raised, makes the music of the moment almost audible, cementing Sidibé's reputation as a photographer who didn't just capture the energy of his subjects but also of their time."
Profile Image for Alessandro Perilli.
39 reviews16 followers
October 30, 2021
Good starting point to start an exploration of the African art scene.

I'm glad to see some of my favourites: Roger Ballen, Ibrahim El-Salahi (you can see the painting in the book at the Tate Modern in London), and Colette Oluwabamise Omogbai (the painting in the book was one of the best at an exceptional exhibition at the Barbican in London called "Into the Night").

Very disappointing omission of my favourite African artist, Nelo Teixeira, and his distinctive "Fragmentos da Chicala" series.


(unrelated: it would be great to see a similar book about contemporary Indian artists)
Profile Image for Laura.
311 reviews
July 22, 2023
Lots of artists to discover in this book! My personal preference would have been for the book to be orgainsed in some way other than alphabetically. Reading from cover to cover, it felt a bit stylistically jumbled, but as a reference book, or something to flick through at leisure, that'd less of an issue.
325 reviews
June 4, 2022
good book
it wasn't overwhelming or written in an academic sense which was nice
good coffee table book
I felt like I learned from it
62 reviews4 followers
June 23, 2024
Didn’t realize, what a sheltered life we choose to live. Gorgeous artworks.
Profile Image for Sidik Fofana.
Author 2 books333 followers
September 15, 2025
SIX WORD REVIEW: Bookmarked movements, collective, media, and national identities.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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