Contemporary African art featured in Moody’s spring exhibition

MEDIA ADVISORY

Katharine Shilcutt
713-348-6760
kshilcutt@rice.edu

Contemporary African art featured in Moody Center’s spring exhibition
Opening Jan. 24, “Radical Revisionists” considers race, representation and the long-term effects of colonialization

HOUSTON – (Nov. 15, 2019) – Race, representation and the long-term effects of colonialization will be deliberated across three galleries — and, in one case, on the façade of the Moody Center for the Arts itself — as 10 contemporary African artists working across a range of media are showcased in next year’s spring exhibition at the Moody.

Omar Victor Diop,Jean-Baptiste Belley, 2014. Série Diaspora. Impression jet d’encre pigmentaire sur papier Harman By Hahnemuhle. © Omar Victor Diop. Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris

“Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present” will open Jan. 24, 2020, and run throughout the spring semester.

As Africa’s rich resources continue to be of great interest to powers around the globe, the selected works in “Radical Revisionists” will speak to the ways in which outside intervention during the colonial past and post-colonial present have deeply affected both its people and its natural resources.

The arrival of “Radical Revisionists” on campus is intentionally opportune, scheduled to be on view during Houston’s FotoFest Biennial 2020. Opening in March, this year’s FotoFest theme is “African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other.” The exhibition will also call attention to Rice’s newly formed Center for African and African American Studies, which formally launched in October.

Featured artists will include Sammy Baloji, Serge Attukwei Clottey, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Omar Victor Diop, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Zanele Muholi, Robin Rhode, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Mary Sibande and Pascale Marthine Tayou. Featuring photography, mixed media, a virtual reality installation and sculpture, the show reconsiders Western narratives about Africa and its history and invites viewers to reexamine both past and present.

Concurrent with the exhibition, Rhode will be the Moody’s spring Leslie and Brad Bucher Artist-in-Residence. His work is informed by his youth in a newly post-apartheid South Africa and it includes elements of hip-hop, film and everyday materials. Rhode’s process often involves artistic interventions in public spaces, including interacting with his signature wall sketches as if they were three-dimensional objects. As the artist-in-residence, Rhode will spend several weeks in Houston, engaging with both the campus and the broader Houston community.

“Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present” will open Jan. 24, 2020, with a free public reception from 6-8 p.m. It will be on view through May 16.

Additional programs featuring dance, music, film screenings and panel discussions between artists and historians will be scheduled throughout the season. For more information, visit moody.rice.edu/upcoming.

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Related materials:

Moody Center for the Arts: moody.rice.edu

Images available for download:

Omar Victor Diop,Jean-Baptiste Belley, 2014. Série Diaspora. Impression jet d’encre pigmentaire sur papier Harman By Hahnemuhle. © Omar Victor Diop. Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris

Photo link: https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/news-network.rice.edu/dist/c/2/files/2019/11/Jean-Baptiste_Belleys.jpg

Faniswa, Seapoint, Cape Town, 2016. Gelatin silver print. CFaniswa, Seapoint, Cape Town, 2016. Gelatin silver print. Copyright Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist, Yancey Richardson, New York, and Stevenson Cape Town / Johannesburg.

Photo link: https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/news-network.rice.edu/dist/c/2/files/2019/11/Faniswa-Seapoint-Cape-Town-2016-5271s.jpg

Adama Delphine Fawundu, Passageways #3, Secrets, Traditions, Spoken and Unspoken Truths or Not, 2017. Archival pigment on paper. Courtesy of the artist

Photo link: https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/news-network.rice.edu/dist/c/2/files/2019/11/3.jpg

This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

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