Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present

Live Virtual Auction, 19 February 2024

Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present
About the Session

From Thomas Baines to Jake Aikman, Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present will showcase art by pioneering modernist and trailblazing contemporary artists, spanning 175 years of visual landscape painting on the African continent. This comprehensive auction reveals a nuanced understanding of the diverse cultural, historical, and environmental contexts that have shaped artistic representations of the landscape. Through an examination of various themes, the auction seeks to engage viewers in a dialogue that transcends time and space, connecting past representations to contemporary perspectives. The auction attempts to engage with the diversity of artists that have shaped and continue to shape the depiction of Africa through time.

The auction invites viewers on a captivating journey through the artistic expressions that mirror the multifaceted nature of African terrain. Through meticulous  curation and insightful analysis, the catalogue aspires to be a valuable resource for scholars, art enthusiasts and anyone eager to embark on a thought-provoking exploration of Africa’s rich and complex artistic heritage.

Curatorial Voices
Recognising the dynamic discourse surrounding African Landscape, both past and present, the auction features texts by invited contemporary curators responding to the auction selection and themes. As external voices, they provide critical insights into the complexities of the landscape theme. By amplifying these contemporary perspectives, the exhibition seeks to bridge the gap between traditional representations and the ever-evolving discourse on the role of African art within the global art market.

Azza Satti, Independent Curator, Kenya
Azu Nwagbogu, Founder and Director of the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), Nigeria
Camilla van Hoogstraten, Head of Sales, Latitudes Online
Ugoma Ebilah, Curator, Gallerist & Founder of Bloom Art
Nkgopoleng Moloi, Independent Curator, South Africa


Sold for

ZAR 7 035
Lot 28
  • Agnes Waruguru; Ngomi II


Lot Estimate
ZAR 6 000 - 8 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 7 035

About this Item

Kenyan 1994-
Ngomi II

accompanied by a digital Latitudes Online certificate of authenticity, signed, dated 2023, inscribed with the title and medium

ceramic with custom-made glazes
height: 15cm; diameter: 16cm

Notes

Agnes Waruguru is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, printmaking, needlework and installation, with a wide-ranging underlying frame of reference. Waruguru’s work is directly related to her surroundings while drawing connections to multiple histories.

Her work can be viewed as an extended painting, exploring ideas of everyday life, home, personal histories, identity and the potential for creating new worlds through active material experimentation, practice and repetitions. In particular, the artist has long reckoned with her own personal history, particularly concerning Kenya and living in the diaspora.

Waruguru’s Ngomi series was created during her residency at Rijksakademie from 2021 to 2023. The artist developed a glaze medium with pigment that allowed her to glaze the calabashes as if they were paintings or drawings. When held up to the ear, they sound like a seashell and create an echo chamber where the surrounding environment is distorted.

This lot has been selected by Curatorial Voice: Camilla van Hoogstraten.

Exhibited

Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Open Studio, a similar example exhibited, 2023.

View all Agnes Waruguru lots for sale in this auction