Gallery 1957 presents new works by Serge Attukwei Clottey, alongside Yaw Owusu, Tiffany Alfonseca and more at 1-54 Contemporary AfricanArt Fair, London 8-10 October 2020
Gallery 1957 participates for a fifth year running at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, held at Somerset House in London, from 8 – 10 October 2020. The presentation will include works by Tiffany Alfonseca (b. 1994), Gideon Appah (b. 1987), Serge Attukwei Clottey (b. 1985), Kelechi Nwaneri (b. 1994), and Yaw Owusu (b.1992).
Yaw Owusu’s work African American Flag (2020) presents a timely reflection on Marcus Garvey’s Pan-African flag and artist David Hammons’ African American flag. Created entirely out of oxidized US one-cent coins, a medium the artist utilises for the first time, the piece is a continuation of the artist’s sculptural installations that repurpose found objects, shifting the value of otherwise-worthless materials into things of beauty, and activating urgent questions around racial, political and economic independence.
New York based artist Tiffany Alfonseca creates vibrant and colorful artworks that celebrate Black and Afro-Latinx diasporic culture. On display at 1:54 are new works showing female figures reclining across bright print backgrounds, continuing the artist’s dedication to visually articulating the Black and Afro-Latinx diaspora as a cultural cornucopia that is vast, varied, and complex.
New works from Serge Attukwei Clottey see the artist using oil paint, graphite, and duct tape to create figurative paintings on corkboard. Uniting day to day materials with paint, the works reflect the artist’s interest in the relationship between materialism and the environment. Alongside these are recent works from his Afrogallonism series, sculptural installations which confront material culture through the utilization of yellow gallon containers.
Self-taught mixed-media artist Kelechi Charles Nwaneri explores issues of mental health, psychology, and social value through his work. At 1:54, Gallery 1957 presents new works which combine his surrealist imagery with West-African iconography. Also on show are recent works from the artist Gideon Appah depicting surreal and often dreamlike scenes of unknown figures in natural landscapes.
About Gallery 1957
Based in Accra and working internationally, Gallery 1957 has a curatorial focus on West Africa. The gallery presents a program of exhibitions, installations and performances by the region’s most significant artists currently bridging the gap between local and international practices. Founded by Marwan Zakhem in 2016, Gallery 1957 has evolved from over 15 years of private collecting. The gallery now hosts two spaces in Accra – one in the Kempinski Hotel and another in Galleria Mall – and a London outpost in Hyde Park Gate. The gallery serves as a vital platform, promoting West Africa’s presence within the art scene by hosting ambitious exhibitions, providing resources for residencies and participating in international art fairs.
