Perspectives on Africa
Live Virtual Auction, 17 February 2025
Perspectives on Africa
About the SessionStrauss & Co is pleased to present Perspectives on Africa, a sale that explores the complexity, beauty, and fluidity of perspectives through African art and works by artists with strong ties to the continent. The sale coalesces the rich and varied connections between Africa and its artistic expressions, presenting works that span figuration, landscape, and abstraction, inviting collectors to engage with powerful narratives emerging from Africa's evolving perspectives. The works reflect layered meanings, both as a method of representing depth and dimension as a way of framing our understanding of the world. Work by Contemporary artists reflects on the historical foundations of Modernist artists, exploring themes such as identity, belonging, urbanisation, and re-encounters with tradition, while the sale transitions to Modernist interpretations of Africa, exploring the complexity of colonial encounters, post-independence aspirations, and indigenous practices. Building on Strauss & Co’s commitment to developing a strong local photography market, the sale includes an artist focus on the work of social documentarian Paul Alberts, whose images captured poignant narratives of everyday life, particularly in Cape Town. These works sit alongside David Goldblatt and Zanele Muholi, whose visceral images explore themes of identity, social justice and the multifaceted realities of African life.
About this Item
signed by both artists, dated 2018 and inscribed with the title on the reverse
Notes
The present lot forms part of a collaborative endeavour between Zander Blom and Sean O’Toole which was born out of a mutual interest in art and music. "Since Sean’s initial interest in art came via music, and he knew that I had dabbled in music before, he thought we might have an interesting conversation."1
Zander Blom’s canvases exude a frantic rhythm, where abstraction is the expression linking his contemporary practice to modernist traditions.2 High pitched colours, punk imagery and scale foreground the expression of the present lot – a hand-painted stage banner. The banner is further complemented by a black steel frame, from which it is tied. The frame especially produced by Rodan Kane Hart, a sculptor, co-founder and creative director of various platforms including THE FOURTH, further adds to the edgy and robust character to the work.
A similar version to the present lot was exhibited by Stevenson at Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles in 2019.
1 tongues (2020) Zander Blom Interview, online, https://tongues.cc/articles/zander-blom/, accessed 27 January 2025.
2 Various Authors (2016) Vitamin P3: New Perspectives in Painting, New York: Phaidon, online, https://www.stevenson.info/artist/zander-blom/texts, accessed 27 January 2025.
View all Zander Blom & Sean O'Toole lots for sale in this auction