Away from Africa

T he words "modern" and "African art" are rarely used together. African art as usually identified as traditional art: sculpted masks, statues, in the same style they were done for hundreds of years. One of the galleries attempting to change this is the  Contemporary   African   Art   Gallery  in  Manhattan ,  New York  City. Founder Bill Karg is an architect, and he lived and worked for over five years in  Africa , working on low-income self-built housing, as a consultant for various organizations, such as USAID, the United Nations, the World Bank, and various African governments. El Anatsui wall hanging While he was in  Africa , he started collecting the work of contemporary local artists, and in doing so, met them and learned about their work. He realized that many were well-known, well-collected, and often shown in  Europe  but were virtually unknown in the  United States .  Karg felt that this situation...

Genita Ingram greeting a guest My friend Genita Ingram, PR professional extraordinaire, invited me to a fundraiser for Project Enterprise on Tuesday, May 17, at Casa Frela, an art gallery in New York City, at 47 West 119th Street. It was a very nice event to raise funds for a nonprofit that provides entrepreneurs in under-served areas with loans ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. The art at Casa Frela was a mix of pieces by contemporary African-American artists and traditional art and artifacts from the African continent, and the gallery is housed in a beautiful historical Harlem brownstone. I recognized several items from the Bamiléké area of Cameroon, as well as many Nigerian and Ethipian pieces. Soothing music was provided by a young Gambian Cora player, Malang Jobarteh. The gallery owner is Lawrence Rodriguez, himself the product of two cultures, Mexican and Native American. Contemporary art Amber beads in a wooden bowl Malang Jobarteh Playin...