The nomadic artist has spent years cultivating his craft. City to city, embracing identities and cultures and leaving remnants of himself behind; with every continent explored, iterations of those anthropological studies fortify his works further to cast bold socio political statements that resonate instantaneously.
It started with a passport. For artist Barthélemy Toguo, movement through the world was tethered to the small book he was required to carry when he traveled, within which his progress could be tracked at every border he tried to cross.
A rickety-looking wooden boat is piled high with overstuffed bags covered in colorfully patterned African fabrics. Hanging overboard: a collection of plastic teapot-shaped pots and gasoline cans. Instead of floating on water, this ark is adrift on an ocean of green glass bottles. The boat is actually a piece of art called Road to Exile, by the...
In the last year, stories about the global migration crisis have been at the forefront of our news feeds and especially in the work of Cameroonian artist, Barthélémy Toguo. In his exhibition, showing at the Parrish Art Museum until October 14, Toguo addresses the migrant and refugee crisis; specifically, the desire of young Africans to escape in...
Canton Express is held at the M+ Pavilion, located at the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, which showcases the collection donated by Chinese collector Guan Yi to M+ in 2013. The show is on view from 23 June to 10 September 2017. In addition to the exhibition, M+ also organised a weekend-long film and video screening, City Limits...
A collaboration between the Association for the International Diffusion of French Art (ADIAF) and the Centre Pompidou, the Prix Marcel Duchamp seeks to bring together the most innovative contemporary artists in France and to encourage new artistic forms. This year, for the first time, all four nominees are exhibiting at the Centre Pompidou....
The application of Chinese ink transformed during the political reconfiguration of the country, as instigated by Deng Xiaoping’s Open Door policy at the end of the 20th century. With an influx of global influences and the rehabilitation of intellectuals, artists became a part of the “Reading Fever’” or “High Culture...
PARIS — Just outside the gates of the National Museum of the History of Immigration, an enormous, dreamy-faced, freestyle swimmer surges from the ground. Diadji Diop's sculpture, Dans le bonheur (2009), plays on the expression 'swimming in happiness,' or the very image of happiness. Such happiness, and the political, geographic, and mortal...
Earlier this month, as the words 'migrant crisis' permeated daily conversation, and migrants became refugees became people fleeing for their lives, the image of a small, ancient ship landed in my inbox. A sailing boat, really, thin wooden masts and white sails rolled up, the hull hovering against a darkened sea. Framed demurely by gold thread and...
Press release courtesy of CHINA 8. Eight cities along the Rhine and Ruhr, nine museums, around 120 artists - the CHINA 8 exhibition is the most comprehensive survey of contemporary Chinese art held in Germany to date. Alongside established artists, the positions of younger and newly emerging artists are also represented. Nine museums in...
Delicate brush strokes on paper – calligraphy, lyrical subjects, perhaps woodblock prints on handmade stock. These are the things that most commonly spring to mind when it comes to Chinese ink art – ancient methods and traditional subjects, perhaps reinterpreted in a contemporary context but always recognisable. Recognisable and...
Yes! After months and months of speculation, prayers, and rumors, the Venice Biennale has released the artist list for its 56th edition, “All the World’s Futures,” which is being curated by Okwui Enwezor. At a quick glance, it looks like a thrillingly eclectic list, counting among its participants giants like Bruce Nauman, Adrian...
Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, the eponymous Beijing-based gallery dealing exclusively in works on paper and founded 4 years ago, has opened a new space in Hangzhou. Headed by Olivier Hervet, it will expand the gallery’s remit to include works in all media by young Chinese artists. The first six exhibitions will be dedicated to graduates...
Art Taipei, formerly known as Taipei Art Fair International, is Asia’s oldest art fair. Established by the Taiwan Art Gallery Association in 1992, the fair is to take place this year between 8 and 11 November 2013 in Taipei’s World Trade Center. This edition is the twentieth anniversary of the fair, which emphasises its desire to create...