“Transient beings. Contemporary African art and the human form”, Duende Art Projects presents the work of five emerging African artists: Soro Kafana (b. 1991, Ivory Coast), Mohammed Arrhioui (b. 1995, Morocco), Beatrice Wanjiku (b. 1978, Kenya), Mostaff Muchawaya (b. 1981, Zimbabwe), and Sibusiso Ngwazi (b. 1999, South Africa). Each explores the human appearance through their own unique artistic language. To understand the transient nature of being is to accept that we are all just passing through one phase of our life after another. These artists investigate the many planes of existence, past and present, we navigate through. Each plane exists for us as a transient phase, but the entire process takes a lifetime. A continuous growth as a person is fundamental to the human experience. Life is transient, yet art tries to capture its fleeting instants and this continuous process of transformation.
With his chainsaw the Ivorian artist Soro Kafana sculpts enigmatic deconstructed figures from large blocks of indigenous acacia wood. With its two heads “Angle de vue” addresses how different perspectives can enrich our interpretation of reality. In Roman mythology, the two-headed Janus was the god of change and transition. The progress of past to future, from one state to another, or from one vision to the next are all physically epitomized in this statue. Kafana’s work bears witness to the complexity of identity and its ever-unfinished character, to be affirmed or constructed. In his sculptures, the presence of the double is not distressing. Rather, it takes the form of a suggestion to introspection, of a humble recognition of the eternal evolution of things, a humility that the artist learns every day in contact with the trees, the great sages of the forest. Omitting the head of another sculpture, the artist brings fascinating new interpretations of the human physique where negative space is just as important as the positive. The raw, untreated surface of the wood, imperfections included, mirrors our own flaws and limitations. This human fragility is exactly also what the Casablanca-based artist Mohammed Arrhioui tries to capture in his works. We present a group of new works by this emerging Moroccan artist, created during his recent residence at SAFFCA.EU in Brussels, in which he explores the vulnerability of human beings. Through compositions of anonymous bodies, composed from brittle bits of eggshells, Arrhioui expresses and reveals in a delicate and poetic manner a state of inner struggle.
Investigating the human psyche, the evocative paintings from Beatrice Wanjiku capture mental states of being through explorations of the physical appearance. Her layered paintings waver between figuration and abstraction with a provocative rawness. With her paintings, Wanjiku hopes we can return to our true selves, bringing back the completeness that we are searching for. Her work reflects this pursuit for meaning, to make sense of our constantly altering realities. Mostaff Muchawaya creates captivating multi-layered portraits of loved ones with a unique technique mirroring the act of disremembering. The artist’s energetic signature style involves the application and erasure of multiple layers of vividly colored paint. Muchawaya paints impressions of half-remembered memories that are integral to his own identity. Among the continent’s most innovative non-figurative painters, Sibusiso Ngwazi creates multidimensional compositions expressing a deep spirituality. With his bold, spontaneous strokes he captures our constantly changing nature and the depth of our inner worlds. While the artist’s self-portrait “Before the sunset” is an introspective analysis, “Je suis” is a love-story in all its facets, about how we discover ourselves in relation to others. Experiencing Ngwazi’s paintings is utmost subjective, each work inviting the viewer to explore their own subconscious and emotional landscapes.
In “Transient beings. Contemporary African art and the human form”, these five artists each in their own personal way scrutinize the human experience. In his captivating works we discover ourselves. The universality of the evoked feelings celebrates the importance of contemporary African perspectives within the global art world.
