1-54 Marrakech 2023
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora, announced the return of 1-54 Marrakech at La Mamounia hotel, recently voted the Best Hotel in the World by Condé Nast Traveller. The 2023 Marrakech edition will welcome 20 exhibitors and over 60 artists, including eight galleries from the African continent, and 12 galleries which will participate at 1-54 Marrakech for the first time.
Here are some highlights from the fair:
Maya-Inès Touam, who was born in France to Algerian parents, creates work that sits between two shores of the Mediterranean. Her artwork explores an oriental aesthetic, but from her own perspective as the granddaughter of immigrants, rather than from a neo-orientalist viewpoint.
Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux transports us into a visual story where his personal anecdotes and the narratives of a diverse world are intertwined. He invites us into his melancholic world of portraits, which blurs the line between reality and dreams, encompassing the Caribbean, West Africa, and Europe. With roots in drawing and painting, Deloumeaux continues to explore various materials and integrate his works into the dialogue between art and architecture or design.
Ibrahim Ballo’s artistic process is reflected in his woven paintings, inspired by the women in his rural Sénoufo community in Mali who weave cotton for clothing. His masked figures prompt a contemplation of identities, expanding the boundaries of this concept. The acrylic lines intersect and interweave, creating a multitude of intersections, reminiscent of the knotted threads used in weaving.
Barthélémy Toguo’s artistic approach seamlessly blends serious, provocative, and satirical elements. He is a versatile multidisciplinary artist who critiques and aesthetically examines “the controlled movements of people, goods, and resources between the developing world and the West.” Toguo tackles topics such as migration, colonialism, race, exile, and displacement, demonstrating through his art that people are always at risk of becoming exiles, driven by the desire to travel, making them inherently “displaced beings.”
In her exploration of painting, drawing, textile, and ceramics, Rachel Marsil delves into themes of identity and representation. By examining her own history, she invites us into a personal and vibrant world where intimate scenes, moments of reunion, and understated stillness are intertwined. Her paintings feature a series of flexible silhouettes, as if in a state of quiet contemplation. The peaceful gaze of these figures is directed towards the viewer, their faces captivating and their features, while similar from one to another, remain distinct and unique.
Ambrose Rhapsody Murray is a self-taught painter and seamstress who earned a BA in African American studies from Yale College in 2018. They bring a background in liberation movements and social justice activism to their work as a Black, queer, Southern artist, striving to create pieces that heal, transform, and make a meaningful impact. Their artistic process explores the connection between bodies and land as sources of historical memory and mystical/imaginative power. Through sewing, painting, and assemblage, they delve into the complex stories within bodies and the connection between the spiritual and physical world.
1-54 Marrakech 2023
Location: Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain, Brussels
Duration: 9 February – 12 February