Away from Africa

Detail Cancer and Contours , 2011,  Discarded plastic bags ( Plasto-yarns )  and bottles, twine and wood. 39 x 41 x 8 inches Skoto Gallery has unfailingly shown high quality art in New York since 1992. The gallery’s specialty is African contemporary art, and Skoto was the first to provide an NYC space to El Anatsui, for example, whose art is now displayed in many museums worldwide. The current exhibition, on view through November 2, 2013, is called Transmogrification : works by Ifeoma Anyaeji. It is a very original and also timely exhibition using surprising materials for the three-dimensional art and sculpture. Ifeoma Anyaeji Ifeoma, born and raised in Benin City, Nigeria, studied painting at the University of Benin in her hometown, as an undergraduate. However, sculpture was always her passion, and 3 years ago she won a Ford Foundation Fellowship award and attended Washington University in St. Louis (Missouri, USA). She eschewed traditional materials to co

During our recent stay in Cameroon, we were fortunate to find a group exhibition showing at Doual'art , the cultural center in downtown Douala. This is one of the rare, if not the only, nonprofit exhibition spaces in Cameroon. It is managed by Marilyn Douala Bell and Didier Schaub, located in the business center of Douala, Place du Gouvernement. Pieces by Joseph Francis Sumégné "Petit Masque I," Joseph Francis Sumégné "Petit Masque II," Joseph Francis Sumégné "The Family," Romuald Dikoumé, 2012 "La déchirure," Merlin Tefolo, 2012 "Deido Plage," Salifou Lindou, 2012 "Mental Thown I," Salifou Lindou, 2012 Marilyn Doualla Bell in the upstairs office Didier Schaub It is also the best place to meet with our old friend, the artist Koko Komegne .