Entrée to Black Paris™: Marie B

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Africa Unlimited at the Cloître des Billettes

Nomadic galeriste Aude Minart has once again mounted a spectacular exposition of African and African Diaspora art at the Cloître des Billettes. This one is called Africa Unlimited.

Guadeloupan artist Marie B’s Tango greets visitors at the entrance to the cloister, while her Totems duo stands against the southern wall. She is the only artist from the Americas whose work is represented. The other artists come from this side of the Atlantic.

Africa Unlimited – View from Entryway
© Discover Paris!

Totems (detail)
Marie B
© Discover Paris!
Wooden sculptures by Niko (France-Benin) once again dominate the open air patio of this medieval cloister,

Sculptures by Niko
© Discover Paris!
while bronze sculptures made using the lost wax casting technique are a prominent component of the smaller pieces displayed throughout the ambulatory.

Bronze sculpture (lost wax casting technique)
Hippolyte Congo – Burkina Faso
© Discover Paris!
By far, the most fascinating and colorful works in this exposition are the paintings and palettes created by Sudan’s Islam Zian-Alabdeen.

Islam Zian-Alabdeen with two of his paintings
© Discover Paris!
The works are incredibly intricate. All include images of and inspiration drawn from women, which I found to be an interesting coincidence since this exposition is being shown during Women’s History Month. Indeed, Zian-Alabdeen is deeply inspired by the persona of his mother, a person who he describes as being the ever-present nurturer, surveyor, and disciplinarian (indirectly through his father) of the family.

Vie de Femme (Woman’s Life)
Islam Zian-Alabdeen
© Discover Paris!

Palette by Islam Zian-Alabdeen
© Discover Paris!
Zian-Alabdeen also uses the symbolism of animals to weave narratives through his art. The fish symbolizes continuity and movement; the cat, love… His representations of everyday activities are bolstered by the power of ancient legends and customs of Nubia and each one has the ability to mesmerize those who gaze upon it.

Visitors to the exposition were intrigued by the works and generally enjoyed themselves.

Millie Cherfils, her child, and Tracye Matthews
© Discover Paris!

Visitors in west corridor of ambulatory
© Discover Paris!

Engrossed in art
© Discover Paris!
Africa Unlimited runs through Easter Sunday, March 31.

Cloître des Billettes
24, rue des Archives
75004 Paris
Metro: Hôtel de Ville (Lines 1, 11)
Weekdays and Saturdays: 11 AM to 7 PM
Sunday: 2 PM to 6 PM

Visit our Pinterest page to see more images of the works shown at this exposition. For information about the works and the artists, contact Aude Minart by e-mail at audeminart[at]hotmail[dot]com.

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Thursday, October 28, 2010

A Passion for African Art

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Aude Minart
Photo courtesy of Aude Minart

Aude Minart is passionate about art and all other expressions of creativity. Originally from a town near Lille in northern France, she lives and breathes to promote African art in her native France. For her, art is a means to slowly erode the perceptions that her compatriots have of Africa—to demonstrate that there is a modern Africa, and that contemporary artists abide and thrive there.

Aude granted me an interview during the last days of her latest art exposition in Paris: Tout est Possible Tous les Possibles. The show was marvelous! Every medium except photography was displayed there, including video.

We first discussed and dispensed with the subject of primitive arts. Primitive arts (now called arts premiers, or first arts, in France) consist of masks and carvings such as those displayed at the Musée du Quai Branly and the Musée Dapper in Paris. Aude says that this is the first thing that springs to a French person’s mind in thinking of art from Africa. She firmly believes this view of Africa’s art is too restrictive, and stated that this form or art is not at all what she promotes.

Likewise, she says that all African art is not art brut, which she defines as works made from materials recuperated from other items (such as the throne pictured below). Relatively few of the works that she promotes fall into this category.

Le Trône
César Dogbo
2004, Mixed media
© Discover Paris!

Aude seeks to promote the most modern image of Africa possible. Living on the continent for seven years, and visiting fifteen countries as a journalist for USA Today and Paris Match fueled this desire. The artists that she represents are city dwellers; they constitute part of the urban fabric of Africa. They are generally well known in their homelands, and can benefit from active promotion in Europe. Aude works to build strong relationships with these artists, because it is difficult to market their works successfully unless she can show the same artists’ works repeatedly to potential clients over a period of months to years.

After having chosen the name La Galerie Africaine for her business, Aude discovered that it was too limiting. Because there are artists in Brazil, the French Caribbean, and other areas of the world who also merit the attention of the French art world, she added the words Visibilité Noire—Black Visibility—to the gallery’s name, so that it would be more inclusive.

The works of two artists in Aude’s latest show, Camara Gueye from Senegal and Marie B from Guadeloupe, particularly attracted my attention. Photographs of some of their works are below.

Details of a Marie B sculpture and a Camara Gueye painting
© Discover Paris!

Aude is a “galeriste nomade,” meaning that she does not have a permanent exhibition space in which to show her artists’ works. She therefore has to be very careful when selecting venues for her shows. “Location, location, location,” is what she says is important. The environment in which the art is shown has to “make people dream.”

Two of her favorite venues in Paris accomplish just that. The recent Tout est Possible Tous les Possibles exposition was held in the medieval cloister of the Paroisse des Billettes in the Marais! Aude also likes the Hôtel Mezzara, an art nouveau mansion in the 16th arrondissement built by Hector Guimard. These beautiful, if incongruous, backdrops accentuate the power and originality of the works displayed there.

La Galerie Africaine – Visibilité Noire

Internet: http://www.lagalerieafricaine.com/

Contact: Aude Minart – audeminart@hotmail.com