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12 Contemporary African Artists You Should Know"Folks can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that African artists have now taken and secured their seat at thedinner table, invited or not!"

Posted: 08/25/2015 09:09 AM EDT

"Folks can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that African artists have now taken andsecured their seat at the dinner table, invited or not!"

Art historian Chika Okeke-Agulu's provocative quote is featured proudly in the catalog for"Guess Who's Coming To Dinner," a group show that recently closed at Richard TaittingerGallery in New York City. The exhibition, curated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, celebrated12 contemporary artists from Africa who have carved out success in the often too-exclusiveworld of mainstream art.

The show's title takes a cue from Sidney Poitier’s 1967 dramedy of the same name, and nods tonot only the growing impact of contemporary African art on the American creative epicenter ofNew York, but also the kinds of identity politics that affect the ways we view and interact withthe global art world.

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RICHARD TAITTINGER GALLERY

Edition: US

"Of crucial importance to the exhibition is an earnest desire to question received or fixedassumptions of 'Africanness' as either a cultural signifier or aesthetic primer in the work ofcontemporary African artists," the exhibition's description reads. "Etched in their individualworks are the intimate contexts that motivate their creative preoccupations, as well as theinternationalism of their individual practices. Such contexts bear the markers of what isincreasingly being referred to as global contemporary."

From Algerian artist Halida Boughriet's portraits of people living on the margins of society, toEthiopian artist Aida Muluneh's surreal photography, to Madagascar-born AmaliaRamanakarihina's Rorschach-like ink prints, "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" spans bothgeography and media. Some of the participating painters and photographers were born incountries throughout Africa, others are of African descent or spent chunks of their childhoodon the continent. As the show is quick to point out, the real unifying characteristic that threadsthe work together is a penchant for using local experiences and histories as a lens throughwhich we can view global issues.

"Their individual works address Africa, but as a vehicle with which they contemplate ourchanging times," Nzewi writes in the catalog. "The fifty-two works on view demonstrate theintimate contexts that inspire the artists and the sense of internationalism that attendcontemporary artistic practice."

While the show is no longer on view, "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" functions as anintriguing primer on praiseworthy contemporary artists who call places like the Ivory Coast,Nigeria and Kenya home. Behold, 12 contemporary African artists you should know -- let theirart speak for themselves:

1. Ephrem Solomon (b, 1983, Ethiopia)

RICHARD TAITTINGER GALLERY

2. Aida Muluneh (b. 1974, Ethiopia)

EPHREM SOLOMON

Untitled from the series Forbidden Fruit, 2014. Oil, woodcut on panel, 31.5 x 31.5 in. (80 x 80 cm).

3. Halida Boughriet (b. 1980, France, of Algerian descent)

AIDA MULUNEH

The Wolf You Feed 3, 2014. Digital chromogenic print on cotton rag, 31.5 x 31.5 in. (80 x 80 cm)

4. Amalia Ramanakarihina (b. 1963, Madagascar)

HALIDA BOUGHRIET

Bichromie au regard Trompeur from the series Pandora, 2014. Chromogenic color print, 32.6 x 50 in. (82.9 x 127 cm).

5. Onyeka Ibe (b. 1971, Nigeria)

AMALIA RAMANAKARIHINA

Nenibe 3 from the series Portraits de Famille (Family Portraits ), 2013. Color photograph, 19.2 x 15.4 in. (48.8 x 39.2 cm).

#happeningnow Artist Onyeka Ibe interviews with @afrofusion TV 🎥

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6. Chike Obeagu (b. 1975, Nigeria)

7. Gopal Dagnogo (b. 1973, Ivory Coast)

CHIKE OBEAGU

What It Takes to Get a Pet Name, 2014. Arcylic, paper on canvas, 41.7 x 31.9 in. (106 x 81 cm).

8. Uche Uzorka (b. 1974, Nigeria)

GOPAL DAGNOGO

Waiting the Vote of the Beasts, 2014. Acrylic, pastel on canvas, 58.9 x 58.9 in. (149.5 x 149.5 cm).

9. Beatrice Wanjiku (b. 1978, Kenya)

UCHE UZORKA

Alien Indigene, Alien Citizen, 2014. Ink and pen on Arches watercolor paper, 45 x 39 in. (114 x 99 cm)

10. Amina Menia (b. 1976, Algeria)

BEATRICE WANJIKU

The Strangeness of my Madness IV, 2015. Acrylic, pastel on canvas, 23.5 x 27.5 in. (58.9 x 69.8 cm).

AMINA MENIA

Ziama from the series Chrysanthèmes, 2009–present. Inkjet print on cotton rag paper, 22.4 x 18.5 in. (57 x 47 cm).

11. Chika Modum (b. 1980, Nigeria)

12. Sam Hopkins (b. 1979, Italy, grew up in Kenya)

CHIKA MODUM

Familiar, 2015. Digital print on silk and cotton fabric, thread, Velcro, 19.7 x 19.7 in. (50 x 50 cm).

On view now: "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" Curated by Ugochukwu- Smooth C. Nzewi.Silkscreen prints by #SamHopkins #RichardTaittingerGallery #GWCD #LowerEastSide #LES #NYC

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