Osei Bonsu’s African Art Now

In African Art Now, Tate Modern curator of International Art Osei Bonsu presents a list of 50 artists from Africa and the African Diaspora who are making waves in the art world, and whose work highlights the diversity of African artists practice. Through this book, Bonsu attempts to highlight how contemporary African art explores identity and identity making. He looks at how artist from the continent shape themselves and their home countries in and through their work, and how artists who have, through exile or migration, found themselves shaping their relationships to Africa and shaping their identity they same way.

Contemporary African art is a rising phenomenon around the world, with many museum collections, auction houses and galleries devoting special teams to the study and display of such works. Fairs outside of the continent, like 1:54 in London, or Also Known as Africa combined with major exhibitions in institutions around the world have further fuelled the growing interest in contemporary African artists.

But in contrast, these things have also highlighted the lack of critical writing on the subject. And this book aims to correct that. African Art Now is not a historical overview, but a modern one which features artists who have become active between 2010 and 2020, remaining active today.

Within this book you will find the work of many South African artists, including Lebohang Kganye, Sabelo Mlangeni, Mohau Modisakeng and Gabrielle Goliath. You will also find the work of artists from other parts of Africa, including the Zimbabwean photographer Kudzanai Chiurai, Kenyan painter Wangari Mathenge, Ethiopian printmaker Virginia Chihota and many, many more.