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Tag: South African artist

  • ARTSPLIT Set to Redefine the African Art Space with Its Maiden Online Lease Auction

    ARTSPLIT Set to Redefine the African Art Space with Its Maiden Online Lease Auction

    ARTSPLIT, the trail-blazing art tech platform, successfully held its first online “Lease Auction” from Monday, the 18th of April, culminating on Friday the 22nd of April 2022, just two weeks after its live debut on the 8th of April 2022.

    The first of its kind auction was well received by its diverse community of collectors, with the 6-months lease of two artworks by iconic African artists with their works going for $1,185.19 and $1,128.75, respectively.

    The ARTSPLIT app allows its users to own fractions, also known as “Splits,” of prominent African artworks and keep or trade them on the app if they win in the “Split Auction.”

    These Splits enable multiple individuals to co-own a single iconic piece of art, which is not possible on any other art platform.
    ARTSPLIT also allows users to participate in a ‘Lease Auction’ on the app to win physical custody of these split artworks for a set period.

    The two artworks that were auctioned were “Untitled” (2014) by Abdoulaye ‘Aboudia’ Diarrassouba, an Ivorian contemporary artist, and “A Still Life of Fruit with A Spanish City Beyond” (1962) by the late prominent South African artist, Irma Stern.

    Both works had been up for auction from Monday, the 18th of April, and were due to close by midnight Friday, April 22, 2022.
    A flurry of late bids by enthusiastic users looking to outbid each other ensured an exciting finish to a competitive auction! For the excited winners, they will have the works delivered to them for the duration of the lease period. Aboudia chronicles the street scene in his city of Abidjan. In his vibrant, large-scale mixed-media paintings and drawings, inspired from the aesthetics of graffiti and traditional African carvings.

    For Irma Stern, one of South Africa’s most outstanding artists. Africa was her “Paradise,” which inspired her artistic creativity.
    The success of the lease auction is another inspiring milestone for ARTSPLIT. It demonstrates the importance of democratizing ownership of prestigious African artworks, with ARTSPLIT granting this access to a global community of art lovers.

    Another significance of the success of the auctions is proof of the impressive acceptance and adoption ARTSPLIT has garnered from the art community across regions and nationalities, driving the integration of African art into the global art landscape.

    Hannatu Ageni-Yusuf, ARTSPLIT’s Global Head of Marketing and Communications, stated, “It has been over a week since we began our soft launch, and the reception has exceeded our expectations.” We are currently gathering feedback from our early users to improve the app’s offerings. Collectors have so far been captivated by the catalogue feature, which allows major collectors to create a digital catalogue of their collection with a planned AI feature that will provide an indicative valuation of these works based on trade data.”

    The excitement does not stop here; there are still amazing artworks up for split and lease auctions on the platform. These auctions are always available and take place in real-time.

  • CNN’s Africa Avant-Garde showcases contemporary art from across the continent

    CNN’s Africa Avant-Garde showcases contemporary art from across the continent

    In the latest episode of Africa Avant-Garde, CNN International meets some of the continent’s most experimental contemporary artists.

    Victor Ehikhamenor is an artist and writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. His artwork draws inspiration from iconography – the use or study of images and symbols in art. Symbols have been used across West African art for thousands of years. Ehikhamenor talks about this history, “Women have drawn them on the walls. Men have used them in architecture in the Eastern parts of Nigeria. So, I picked them up from there, from the village as well as in Benin. When you look at the sculptures, the bronze works, those tiny details, those lines are coming from somewhere, and they’re innate in us, you know, so they’re innate in me.”

    Ehikhamenor’s work has been exhibited around the world including inside Facebook’s Dubai headquarters. He describes the legacy he wants his work to have, “I really want to be part of building an institution for my country and my continent. I like the fact of giving back to the community. We need to learn to carry each other along. We need to learn to lift each other up in the country. That’s the only way we are to be able to get to wherever we are going. So, that is a sense of urgency for me to be able to create something, a bigger space or be part of building an institution in helping to tell our stories.”

    Another creative using iconography to tell stories is Moroccan visual artist Safaa Mazirh. She tells the programme about her work, “I try to go as deep as I can on the research, but I also add my own touch to these symbols, so they become a part of me. This work requires without any doubt a lot of ideas, reflection and focus because you have to be behind the camera and in front of it at the same time.”

    Mazirh’s photographic work has featured in exhibitions in Mali, Dakar, and Paris. She speaks about what makes an effective image, “I believe an image or a project series are successful when we look at them and we understand that there is a story and a message behind them. When there is a memory, a reminder, something the photographer wishes to tell through these photos.”

    In Cape Town, Africa Avant-Garde meets South African artist Penny Siopis. Siopis creates her artwork using painting, film, and installations. She speaks about her unusual methods, “Primarily I’m a painter and even within my painting practice I’ve used very, very diverse media. From oil paint to glue and ink, to collage. And then I work with film, and that’s also not conventional in that I don’t shoot the film myself. I find the film literally in flea markets and charity shops and I buy it and transfer it onto digital, and then I edit, make a new story from all these old films that basically I’ve found.”

    Siopis describes how exploring South Africa has influenced her work, “I think people in the world, are very interested in South Africa being a kind of microcosm of social-political experiences across the globe but they often don’t have the sort of sense of the complexity, the psychological complexity of what it might mean to have lived in a society like ours, and still live in a society like ours.”

    Finally, Ghanaian visual artist Kojo Marfo talks to the programme about his work and what influences his art, “Usually I describe my work as cultural hybridity. I take symbols from Africa, some may come from Asia, some may come from South America. My work is about social issues. So, I want to bring everyone into the conversation. I want everyone to be in the room, everyone to actually look at it and relate to something in there.”

    Marfo has just concluded a summer exhibition at the JD Malat Gallery in London. He discusses the impact of his work, “I may not be able to change millions of people’s minds, but I could actually change a few people to understand that there are good people in this world, and I want to be that kind of guy who will always promote that mindset.”

    Contemporary art is a dynamic, inventive medium that is being explored by artists across Africa. Ehikhamenor sums up how contemporary art can represent an artist’s story, “It’s a great feeling to have, that one is able to carry the story of a country, of a continent, to these places and be able to tell your story so that it’s not mistold. Art is one thing that is universal in the way that we react to it. You can either ignore it or embrace it, but you cannot deny seeing it.”