The eleventh edition of 1-54 London was presented at Somerset House, 12-15 October 2023, showcasing a diverse selection of painting, sculpture, fine art photography, ceramics, mixed-media installations and other creative outputs by more than 170 contemporary visual artists and collectives from continental Africa and the global African diaspora.
Having attended 1-54 since its inception more than a decade ago, I was delighted to see just how much this spectacular visual arts showcase had expanded in size, geographical representation, and range of cultural production — which, for 2023, included ‘cross-arts’ curatorial collaborations between visual artists, writers and performers (for example, Nigerian ‘Afrobeats’ singer-songwriter Mr Eazi’s curation of the sound and image installation project “The Evil Genius“); several other “Special Projects” showcasing emerging artists, experimental creative initiatives, and pro-social artistic developments from selected African nation-states — specifically Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe; and also a diverse events programme of curators’ talks, art history panel discussions, artist-led studio tours, and ‘satellite’ pop-up exhibitions hosted at other venues across central London (including the second iteration of “1-54 Presents” as a temporary group show — titled “Transatlantic Connections: Caribbean Narratives in Contemporary Art,“ 10-13 October 2023 — curated by Martinique’s Caryl Ivrisse Crochemar and shown at Christie’s in St James’s).
Size, scope and range
Over the course of four days, a total of 62 galleries and eight special projects displayed artworks in the main exhibition areas, temporary booths, alcoves, stairwells and other interstitial spaces covering three floors and two wings (South and West) of the expansive, palatial arts venue.
Surrealist artwork by Sudanese painter and filmmaker Salah Elmur (b.1966, Khartoum), from the series “Central Electricity and Water Administration,” displayed at 1-54 London. Photo: Carol Ann Dixon.
“Illuminate the Light,” by Amine El Gotaibi
The specially commissioned project in the fountain courtyard was a metalwork and mirrored glass sculptural installation by the globally renowned, Marrakech-based artist Amine El Gotaibi (b. 1983 — Fes, Morocco) — titled “Illuminate the Light” (2023).
This large-scale, immersive piece comprised a sequence of seven, angular, mirror-lined Corten steel pods – all lit from below with yellow-toned spotlights, and enveloped in a light mist circulating around the apertures. Additionally, each geometric casing housed a small bench for visitors to sit on and contemplate the setting, whilst also gazing at the beautiful, 18th century Georgian architecture of Somerset House reflected off the mirrored surfaces.
From a distance these metallic pods had the appearance of seeds, randomly distributed over the paving slabs — a placement and shaping that matched the artist’s intention, having been inspired to create and position the structures in this way after observing the natural variation of jewel-like pomegranate seeds. The explanatory literature provided by MCC Gallery interpreted the sculptural assemblage as follows:
“This monumental installation consists of seven Corten geometric sculptures inspired by the seeds of a pomegranate that vary in shape, to represent the diversity of the African continent. At dusk, the sculptures transform into luminous installations … reinforcing [the artist’s] core philosophy that “out of darkness, light emerges.“
Marie Moignard (MCC Gallery, Marrakech)
Luminaries of the Past and the Present
In addition to the many new artworks on display throughout the fair, an important and unchanging aspect of 1-54 London was the way the event’s founder and director Touria El Glaoui has always encouraged participating gallerists and project curators to juxtapose artworks by long-established creative luminaries alongside very recently produced pieces by early-career artists within the exhibition booths.
This combining of modern and contemporary works provided opportunities to celebrate the oeuvres of a number of pioneering African artists, whose trailblazing endeavors in the 20th century helped to shine a much-needed spotlight on the breadth and quality of hitherto under-appreciated visual arts excellence that has been created for generations. It is only now, in the most recent decades of the 21st century that the Western-dominated art world is taking closer notice and giving due attention to contemporary visual art from continental Africa and the African diaspora.
Some of the most notable booths and room displays that really stood out during my visit on October 13th included: Vigo Gallery’s presentation of drawings and paintings by internationally renowned Sudanese Modernist Ibrahim El-Salahi (b. 1930, Omdurmán); iconic masks by the Beninese sculptor Romuald Hazoumè (b. 1962), shown by October Gallery; paintings by Mozambiquan modernist Malangatana Ngwenya (1936-2011) shown by Richard Saltoun Gallery; and a sublime ‘offrande’ wall-hanging created by the celebrated Malian textile sculptor Abdoulaye Konaté (b. 1953, Dire), featuring graduated shades of green, teal, aquamarine and sky blue woven and dyed, embroidered fabrics.
Highlights from the Galleries
My ‘top five’ highlights in this year’s fair were the artists’ portfolios presented by 193 Gallery (Paris, France), Circle Art Agency (Nairobi, Kenya), Affinity (Lagos, Nigeria), Sakhile&Me (Frankfurt, Germany), and Portas Vilaseca Galeria (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
Pascal Konan (193 Gallery)
Souad Abdelrassoul (Circle Art Gallery)
Souad Abdelrassoul, Ph.D, is an Egyptian artist and arts scholar based in Cairo. Her creative practice spans a range of media — including drawing, painting, sculpture, and graphic design. As illustrated above in her painting “Only Survival” (2022), Souad takes a surrealist approach to representing both mythical and realist imagery about womanhood and motherhood, using recurring motifs such as tree-like, vegetal structures and translucent-effect frames within her visual narratives to symbolise and pose questions about the roles women traditionally and currently hold within patriarchal societies, as well as the aspirations of modern women striving to transform their life experiences and future outcomes for the better.
Adelaide Damoah (Sakhile&Me)
Sakhile&Me’s gallery presentation included a sublime triptych by British (Ghanaian heritage) artist Adelaide Damoah, titled “Moon cycle, period, full moon. This week, I have simultaneously experienced intense pleasure and excruciating pain” (2021), from her series “Radical Joy.” This work — made using acrylic-based spray paint on three hinged wooden boards — centered the artist’s naked body. Every aspect of her physical form was represented in varying shades of brown, red, pink, yellow and ochre.
The three panels were hung above eye level as you walked into Room W03 along the West Wing — with a white curtain draped below to give the semblance of an ecclesiastical altar that viewers approached with a sense of awe and reverence out of admiration for the brilliant luminosity and dynamism of the shimmering, corporeal contours presented above. My overall impression was fascination about the way the artist simultaneously captured the power and complexity, as well as the fragility and vulnerability, of the human body.
Gustavo Nazareno (Portas Vilaseca Galeria)
Anne Adams (Affinity Art Gallery)
It was a privilege to visit the Affinity booth at 1-54 and spend time in conversation with the exceptionally talented USA-based Nigerian ceramicist Anne Adams. Earlier in 2023 Anne was the recipient of the prestigious Simone Leigh Zenobia Award, and also recently participated in the high-profile group exhibition, “Clay Holds Water, Water Holds Memory” at the Contemporary Arts Center, in Cincinnati Ohio, USA. When discussing her work she spoke with authority and passion about the many ways in which her creative and critical practice as a fine artist and arts scholar is informed and influenced by issues of restitution and the broader art-political and social justice discourses on decolonisation and decoloniality.
In addition to the five ceramics presented from Anne Adams’ portfolio of work, Affinity Art Gallery also showcased a series of beautiful figurative paintings by Lagos-based fine artist Damilola Onosowobo, which can be viewed online at https://galleryaffinity.com/artist.html.
Special Projects
This year’s special projects featured work by artists and collectives from six nations across the continent and diasporans based in the West, specifically:
- Ghana’s Nubuke Foundation, presented at 1-54 London by gallerist Odile Tevie (one of the Foundation’s co-directors). Nubuke Foundation is currently collaborating with visual artist Alice Raymond on a woven textile art project that focuses on the production and sale of contemporary textiles and other woven designs by women artists based in northern Ghana.
- The African Art Hub (TAAH) – featuring woven installations by Accra-based, Ghanaian textile sculptor Theresah Ankomah (https://www.ankomahtheresah.com/)
- Morocco’s Montresso Art Foundation
- Nigeria’s “The Evil Genius” music and art project, curated as a sound-and-image experience by Afrobeats star Mr Eazi
- Nigerian-British artist Chidi Nwaubani’s digital art restitution project, “LOOTY عودة راشد Return Rashid!” (2023) XR/AR 3D installation, developed in collaboration with Looty co-founder Ahmed Abokor, Egyptian archaeologist Professor Monica Hana and other arts activists and scholars in the Looty Collective. Using cutting-edge LiDAR technology, detailed scans of the Rosetta Stone (Hajar Rashid) were captured in situ at the British Museum during an intervention that the project collaborators termed a “Digital Heist.” These images were then used to simulate a “digital repatriation” of the artwork to its geo-located site of origin in the town of Rashid in Egypt, drawing on a dataset of art-historical and art-political interpretation narratives, and archeological research data accessible to the public via a QR-coded digital art simulation/presentation. Full details about the project can be viewed and read online at https://www.looty.art/
- South Africa’s Spier Arts Trust and Academy (https://spierartstrust.co.za/)
- Zimbabwe’s “artHARARE” project — showcasing a selection of contemporary paintings, collage-based pieces and other mixed-media works by Zimbabwean-born artists Franklin Dzingai, Wilfred Timire, Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi, Prudence Chimutuwah, Mostaff Muchawaya and artist-curator Richard Mudariki (https://www.artharare.com/).
The images shown above feature visitors at 1-54 London viewing the special digital art project, “LOOTY عودة راشد Return Rashid!” (2023) XR/AR 3D installation, accessed via their smart phones. This digital art simulation was created by Nigerian-British artist Chidi Nwaubani, working in collaboration with Looty co-founder Ahmed Abokor (pictured, above), and the archaeologist and Egyptologist Professor Monica Hana. Photos: Carol Ann Dixon.
Concluding reflections
The 11th edition of 1-54 London was its most inspiring fair yet, particularly because more than a third of the gallerists presenting in 2023 were inaugural contributors, collectively introducing a significant number of early career artists from continental Africa to UK-based art audiences and international visiting publics for the first time.
For this reason, 1-54 at Somerset House is always one of my ‘must see’ events every October, and I look forward with keen anticipation to browsing future editions, both in person and online (in London, New York and Marrakech) throughout 2024, and beyond!
Web links and further information
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair – https://www.1-54.com/
1-54 Presents – https://www.1-54.com/london/edition-2023/1-54-presents/
See previous review articles about 1-54 London on Museum Geographies at this link, or type “1-54 art fair” as a keyword search category in the box at the top of this page to retrieve an archive of past posts.
Cover image: “4 AM (FOR ALL MANKIND)” (2023), by Ghanaian artist Prince Gyasi (b. 1995, Accra) – represented at 1-54 London by Maât Gallery. The original artwork is a limited edition Fujiflex print, mounted on aluminum, 140 × 112 cm. Photo: Carol Ann Dixon.
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