1:54 2016 Contemporary African Art Fair – London – October 2016

The 2016 edition of 1:54 is impressive, collected, well curated, and yet offering a wide diversity with a dense network of galleries, as usual in the beautiful setting of the Somerset House (take advantage of the nearby exhibition on Rodin and the Dance).

Contemporary African art is developing quickly, reaching in just a few years strong maturity. The usual suspects are less present, the fair is relying less on the staple names, and showing a new generation of artists emerging with very solid work. Among the well established artists, a few are to be noted : Aboudia (with a gorgeous piece at the Jack bell Gallery), Soly Cissé with gorgeous new works, JP Mika with happy pop paintings at Magnin-A gallery. A good balance between painting, sculpture/installation, photography is found, with the notable absence however of solid video work.

1:54 also presents a full retrospective of Malick Sidibé’s works, in three stages : first, the shots of Bamako’s nightlife in the 60s ; second, the happy moments of the local youth, bathers and lovers by the river ; and finally, the more formal studio portraits. This is a perfect introduction to the portraiture found throughout the fair, and a reminder of the importance of the portrait in African art, from Mohau Modisakeng, winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist award for visual art to the young Justin Dingwall.