ARTAFRICAREVIEWSTHE LAY OF THE LAND: NEW PHOTOGRAPHY FROM AFRICA / JAVIERA LUISINA CADIZ BEDINI
THE LAY OF THE LAND:
NEW PHOTOGRAPHY
FROM AFRICA
by Javiera Luisina Cadiz Bedini
‘The Lay of the Land: New Photography from Africa’ inaugurates The Walther
Collection’s new multi-year exhibition series on photography and video art from Africa.
This will be followed by a group show and an exhibition that will culminate in 2017 with
a major exhibition at The Walther Collection’s museum in Neu-Ulm, Germany. The
Project Space is based in the Chelsea neighbourhood and the white-walled area amplifies
the iridescent colours, forms and textures of the photographs taken by Edson Chagas
(b.1977), François-Xavier Gbré (b.1978), and Mame-Diarra Niang (b.1982). These artists
relay wildly different takes on the built environment across African terrains and beyond.
All three were born a generation after the liberation movements of the 1960s and not
only do their pictures highlight the paradox of freedom and the wear and tear of time,
but they also offer a vital glance into the vast, open landscape that represents the future.
In their own way, each artist develops the nuances of contemporary African backdrops
that are covered by historical marks left in their wake.In his ‘Found Not Taken’ series, Angolan photographer Chagas looks at specific moments
captured in his home city, Luanda. One such untitled image of a closed door encapsulates
the duality of opportunity. In the silence of the snapshot, we witness a heavy, metallic lock
that keeps a rusted gate closed. Here, the paradox of an object that serves its function
is underscored by the irony of the precariously-fitted gate that looks as if it could break
at any given moment. Yet Chagas adds layers of meaning and texture by including and
focusing on the cardboard behind the gate, the dirt on the floor and cleaning utensils,1/4 ARTAFRICA