Sesse Elangwe’s second US solo show: Life’s Blueprint

Bwo Art is thrilled to announce Life’s Blueprint, the second solo show of artist Sesse Elangwe Ngeseli opening today January 25th in Houston at Mitochondria Gallery. 

“Addressing issues of sustainability, self-assurance, and resilience, Cameroonian artist Sesse Elangwe’s second solo exhibition , Life’s Blueprint explores methods of success and fulfillment as well as comprehensive ideologies for effective integrations into American culture. Inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr.’s, a blueprint acts as the construction and framework to one’s life and moral justification.” writes Kendra Walker in the exhibition essay.
 

Sesse Elangwe, Rise In Gloom (2023), acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Mitochondria Gallery

The art writer adds that “using vibrant hues in single compositions, such as brilliant reds and deep blues, these paintings achieve a depth of emotion and vitality. The color blue appears repeatedly throughout the body of work, echoing the concept of a blueprint. The persistent use of blue creates an implied feeling of optimism and creates space for hope and transformation. The individuals’ black skin tones aid in series continuity and provide a layer of dimension defined by the body’s limits. Overall, a systematic style that merges surrealism, figuration, and a distinct color palette captivates the spectator for extended periods of time.” Read Kendra Walker’s full essay in Life’s Blueprint exhibition essay. 

Sesse Elangwe, On The Way To Washington DC  (2023), acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Bwo Art.

Life’s Blueprint will be on view throughout Black History Month and close on February 25th.

New Representation: Stephen Price

We are also pleased to announce the management of Birmingham based Italian-Ghanaian artist Stephen Price. Born in Palermo (Italy) in 1995, Price moved to  the United Kingdom with his family in 2014 where he obtained a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Northampton. Drawing inspiration from the notion of temporality, Price’s paintings offer a poetic encounter and marriage between abstraction and figuration.

Stephen Price, Solitude (2022), Acrylic, charcoal and soft pastels on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Bwo Art.

Using a mixed media technique consisting of charcoal, pastels and acrylic on canvas, Price paints intimate and psychological-like narratives on his canvas. His visual language pushes beyond pure replication of the photographic images and deviates from physical images by combining his imagination and memories. By applying the skin with the depth of charcoal and thick expressive brushstrokes of acrylic, he creates a physicality of texture that is both rough and soft. One of his collectors described his work as “hauntingly beautiful”. 

Stephen Price’s work has been exhibited in the framework of two group exhibitions at the Chilli Art Projects in London, and he was recently featured in the group exhibition “In Situ: Encounters of Place” (2022) at  Kó Art Space in Lagos. We are particularly excited to add Stephen Price to the  meticulously curated list of emerging artists we represent as he has been on our radar  since his first solo exhibition “Luminous Portraits” with Gallery At Home (Usk, Wales) in 2021.

Stephen Price, The teal grass (2022), acrylic, charcoal and soft pastels on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

Stephen Price’s work has integrated the collections of notable collectors in the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Malaysia, France, Belgium and Nigeria. 

For sales inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com

Dakar: At the crossroads of art, fashion and craftsmanship.

Last year from August 30th to September 30th, artist Emanuel Tegene was in residency at Studio Quatorzerohuit in Dakar, Senegal. Within this space offered by Studio Quatorzerohuit, Tegene created 15 paintings which are currently exhibited in his solo show titled Horny Bird which opened on December 8th 2022 during Parcours Dakar, and is on view until January 31st, 2023.

Emanuel Tegene (right) and Princess Caroline of Monaco at the preview of his solo show Horny Bird in Dakar, Senegal. 

As Studio Quatorzerohuit advocates for a strong alliance between crafts, design and contemporary art, which they consider ‘disciplines with intimate relations and joint perspectives’, Emanuel’s solo show is presented alongside “Bubu + Bibi” a collaborative work by Lagos-based fashion designer Bubu Ogisi, and Senegalese designer Bibi Seck. 

Over the past years, Bwo Art has observed a strengthening bond between the worlds of design, crafts and contemporary African art as Dakar is slowly but steadily becoming a regional reference in this new trans-sectoral relationship. After organizing its first ever Métiers d’Art collection runway in Africa last December 2022 in Dakar at the Palais de Justice, the official site of the Dakar Biennial, Chanel recently announced the opening of 19M Gallery: a new creative center dedicated to crafts and contemporary creation in the heart of the Senegalese capital. 19M Dakar kicked off its activities with a group show “Sur Le Fil” featuring the work of 4 African craftsmen and contemporary artists whose practices incorporate the use of threads and embroidery. 

Photo credits: Vogue Magazine

Merging contemporary creation with craftsmanship and ancestral practices is an ambitious move but also a new challenge that several galleries seem to be embarking on. Alluding to the fact that contemporary art intersects with other disciplines is not only a renewal of the thought, but also a new way of recognizing the diversity of creators whilst paving the way for new creative patterns, segments, programmes and ideas on the market.

Dear Patrons, Artists and Friends,

As we reflect on our achievements in 2022, we would like to thank you for the loyalty you showed us throughout last year. It was an eventful year for us and we’re glad we are able to share our achievements with you as we look forward to solidifying and growing our bond this new year.

Bwo Art invests a lot of its time and resources in creating new relationships around the world, from collectors to gallerists, artists, fair directors, writers and museum curators. Some highlights from last year include being able to attend the Venice Biennale, the Dakar Biennale, the Accra Cultural Week, The Armory Show, Frieze week London, Paris+ by Art Basel, Art Basel Miami, and the opening of Amoako Boafo’s artist residency Dot Ateliers in Accra, to cite a few.

In 2022, Bwo Art advised private collections, including foundations and private museums in the United States, China and Malaysia. We were fortunate to receive access to works by strong, visionary and highly sought artists, and like the previous year, we were able to place these works with collectors based principally in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

In terms of artist management, we fulfilled our obligations towards our artists, as we were able to assist them in the preparation and execution of some successful shows, from Sesse Elangwe’s solo exhibitions Dawn (Houston) and If We Could Talk (Paris), to Emanuel Tegene’s solo exhibition Horny Bird (Dakar), Traits To Remember (Venice) featuring Sesse Elangwe and Bara Sketchbook, and In Situ: An Encounter Of Places (Lagos) featuring Ayanfe Olarinde and Sesse Elangwe. The cherry on the cake for us was ending 2022 with the group exhibition titled Still I Rise at Google’s headquarters in France, which was curated by Bwo Art’s co-founder Brice Yonkeu assisted by Maud Ntonga.

The year 2022 was good to us and we hope to keep having you by our corner to achieve greater things in 2023 as we reveal our new signings, upcoming shows featuring our artists and development plans for the future.

Our goal is to ensure that the experience of collecting art is a smooth and enjoyable one. Your love of art and satisfaction are what keep us going and motivated.

In 2023, we look forward to welcoming new clients for advisory and continue to provide our patrons with expert guidance and assistance in sourcing and securing artworks by leading or promising contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora.

For this new year 2023, we wish you and your loved ones health and success in your endeavors.

Happy New Year!

Yours truly,
Noelle Mukete-Elhalaby & Brice Yonkeu
Founders, Bwo Art LLC

For press or general inquiries, please contact:
info@bwoart.com

For sales inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com

We are pleased to announce that Bwo Art’s co-founder and independent art curator Brice Arsene Yonkeu was invited by The Black Googler Network, a group of Google employees dedicated to fueling inclusion at Google, to curate an exhibition on the occasion of the Black History Month of Google France which took place in October. Titled Still I Rise, the group exhibition will be on view at Google’s headquarters in Paris from December 5th through December 9th, 2022.

Featuring 8 contemporary artists of African heritage based between France and Africa mainly, the exhibition intends to spark transformative dialogues internally stemming from the contributions of these artists whose works celebrate Black Culture and Black History globally. “Still I Rise, inspired by Maya Angelou’s acclaimed poem of the same title, is also and mainly a moment for us” said Brice Arsène Yonkeu. “It is a moment during which we regroup to honor each other, to celebrate our achievements in spite of the odds and our singular backgrounds, and most importantly to take up space and amplify our stories as we pay tributes to all those who paved the way for us to be standing where we are.”

Thandiwe Muriu, Camo 11 (2021), Photography, jet ink on fine art paper, courtesy of the artist.

Artist highlights for the inaugural event include the participation of  Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, Rakajoo, Thandiwe Muriu, Johanna Mirabel, Deladem Duvi & Christine Boateng, Djibril Drame and Merveille Kelekele Kelekele. The artists featured in this exhibition investigate through their practices the intersections between race and space, gender, class and/or history. In their own artistic language, they explore history (collective or personal) and/or the present to either create powerful new narratives with their people at the center, or to reclaim what is theirs but was stolen or long forgotten. 

At the private opening of the exhibition, a cocktail reception will be held in the Google Arts & Culture Center’s laboratory. During this event, the actress Sophy Aiida will perform the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou and the film “Oko ke Akueteh” by the budding directors Deladem Duvi and Christine Boateng will be screened.

Expected to attend the opening are actors from the art world and tech world based in, or visiting Paris.

CURATOR: Brice Arsène Yonkeu
ASSISTANT CURATOR: Maud Ntonga

For press inquiries or general inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com

Bwo Art is pleased to share that two of our artists – Sesse Elangwe Ngeseli and Emanuel Tegene – have been invited to take part in two artists-in-residence programmes between London and Dakar.

 
Shaquelle Whyte and Sesse Elangwe at the Fores Project in London. Photo credits: The Fores Project

On August 8th, Sesse Elangwe joined collector-led Fores Project residency programme in London.

The Fores Project is a four-week residency programme which invites and supports emerging artists by giving them  space and time to further their practice and expand their creativity whilst being immersed in a rich cultural and historical scened offered by the city of London.

During his time as a Fores resident, Elangwe is given the opportunity to connect with other London-based artists, European-based collectors, curators and gallerists as he prepares a fresh body of work influenced and informed by this experience. Following the residency, a solo exhibition will be held  in the first semester of 2023 at the Fores Project’s gallery space, or at a partner gallery’s space in London.

If you live in London or are currently visiting and would like to plan a studio visit with Sesse Elangwe, reply to this email. Bwo Art would be more than happy to assist you. 

Emanuel Tegene, 44/45 (2022), acrylic, oil and oil pastel on canvas, 155 x 337 cm. Courtesy of Bwo Art and the artist.  

Neo-expressionist Emanuel Tegene has been selected to take part in the residency programme of the QUATORZEROHUIT Gallery from August 30th to September 30th in Dakar.

Studio QUATORZEROHUIT is a Dakar-based gallery dedicated to contemporary art and design, whose particularity is to highlight the alliance between design and contemporary art, disciplines with intimate relations and joint perspectives. Versatile and mixed, it is also a place of conviviality, convergence, exchange and exploration. Their gallery space offers original exhibitions, with a regular programme of contemporary artists and designers. Tegene will be given the space, conceived as a collaborative creative space, where aesthetics and creative emulation are at the heart of activities.

In parallel, Bwo Art is also thrilled to announce that Emanuel Tegene has completed a new body of work with pieces available from his studio in Addis Abeba. 

Last days to see Bara Sketchbook and Sesse Elangwe in Venice

As shared in our previous newsletters, Bara Sketchbook and Sesse Elangwe have works currently on view until August 21st in a trio exhibition alongside Idris Habib at 193 Gallery in Venice, Italy. Titled “Traits To Remember: The aesthetics and politics of Black portraits”, the show which was curated by Brice Arsène Yonkeu offers a new angle to read the works of the portraitists and emphasizes the relevance of representation in art. 

If you are unable to physically visit, 193 Gallery has created a 3D room of the exhibition which is virtually accessible here. 

Beya Gille Gacha at the MAIF Social Club 

We also pleased to share that artist Beya Gille Gacha will be presenting a work in the group show “Le Chant des fôrets” (tr: “The song of the woods” – curated by Lauranne Germond) at the Parisian cultural centre MAIF Social Club and opening on October 1st. MAIF Social Club is an organisation founded by the French insurance group MAIF, it offers a rich artistic and creative programme featuring emerging and recognised artists from all over the world. 

Beya Gille Gacha, Orant #5 (2019), beads, wax, resin, fabric, concrete, soil  and plants. Courtesy of the artist and Bwo Art.

Gille Gacha worked with 9 other artists with the objective of shedding light on the voices and the mysteries of the woods from different parts of the world. This goes in line with her permanent reflection on humanity, bodies, nature and magic which runs through her body of works. 

Le Chant des Forêts will be a sensitive, visual and sound journey taking visitors into the heart of the woods and intertwining contemporary social issues with mystical aspects of the woods asartists echo the voices of the forest.

To learn more about the exhibition, you can visit their website.

We would like to share with you a full-page feature on Beya Gille Gacha’s practice by German art critic Johnatan Fischer for one of Germany’s most read daily newspaper: Süddeutsche Zeitung.

While wandering inside the main site of the Dakar Biennale, Johnatan Fischer, who is particularly interested in contemporary creation in Africa, was hooked by the exhibited work of Beya Gille Gacha “L’autre Royaume” (Tr:“The other kingdom”).
From Gille Gacha’s beading technique to her manifold historical, ecological and theological associations with human bodies, the journalist transcribes an intense conversation between him and the artist, including Beya’s background, her body of works, her creative process and spirituality. 

Read it now (in German or with page translation): Blick in die Ewigkeit by Johnathan Fischer – 06/02/2022

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/dakar-biennale-beya-gille-gacha-zeitgenoessische-kunst-1.5615989

Announcement – Traits to Remember: the aesthetics and politics of Black portraits – an exhibition curated by Brice Arsène Yonkeu at 193 Gallery, Venice. (June 25 – August 21, 2022)

Bwo art is particularly pleased to share that Bara Sketchbook’s and Sesse Elangwe Ngeseli’s trio show alongside artist Idris Habib titled “Traits To Remember: the aesthetics and politics of Black portraits” opened on June 25 in Venice, Italy. Curated by Bwo Art’s co-founder Brice Arsène Yonkeu, the exhibition is on view at 193 Gallery in Venice until 21st August.

The exhibition opens a room for these three artists from West Africa to dialogue through portraiture, creating contemporary iconographies of Black communities. After centuries of underrepresentation and invisibilization of Black people in art history, the works of these artists like a few others of their generation can be interpreted as a response and contribution to expanding the canon.

Their portraits accentuate and celebrate features associated with Black bodies whilst sometimes infusing cultural and sociopolitical elements which broaden the reading of their works beyond the “cool” or pure aesthetics to integrate subjectivity. Each portrait captures a gaze, an essence, a state, a spirit, an emotion, or the feelings of individuals whose simple existence deserves to be immortalised so that tomorrow there shall be no gaps about today. Thus, the act of painting Black figures and celebrating Blackness through portraiture today can also be perceived as political.

Press

In May and June of this year, two of our artists, Sesse Elangwe Ngeseli and Beya Gille Gacha received considerable media attention and spotlight for their participations in shows spanning from Dakar to Paris and Venice. Gille Gacha who exhibited an installation at the Dakar Biennale this year is also featured in “Dicokam” at 193 Gallery in Paris, alongside Elangwe who was given a solo chapter and is also presenting new works in Venice. Below are selected press clips of articles on which the rising artists were featured. 

France 24 –  Sesse Elangwe : portrait de la jeunesse camerounaise 

RFI Le Débat Africain (hosted by Alain Foka) – Biennale de Dakar: L’art contemporain africain a-t-il aussi la côte sur le continent? (with Beya Gille Gacha as guest)

Vice France – La jeune garde de l’art contemporain Camerounais s’expose à la 193 GALLERY

Artnews Africa on Instagram 

France TV Info – L’exposition “Dicokam” présente à Paris le travail de huit jeunes artistes camerounais

Journal des Arts – La scène camerounaise en galerie

RFI – Culture africaine: les rendez-vous en juin 2022

For press or general inquiries, please contact: brice@bwoart.com   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TeBenxXPBI 

JUNE 2 – JULY 31, 2022

Bwo Art is thrilled to announce that Sesse Elangwe’s debut European solo exhibition will open this Thursday, June 2 at 193 Gallery in Paris. Held as a chapter under the broader exhibition “Dicokam” curated by Mary-Lou Ngwe-Secke, the US-based Cameroonian artist’s second solo exhibition this year will present a poignant new body of work titled “If We Could Talk” which explores a subject dear to him: the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon.

Sesse Elangwe, Bad card (2022), acrylic on canvas, 200 x 200cm. Courtesy of Bwo Art and the artist.

The series “If We Could Talk” is the embodiment of Sesse Elangwe’s desire to give a voice to the youths in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon (the Northwest and Southwest) who have been the most affected by the ongoing Anglophone crisis that has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. In line with his extensive process centered on the importance of engaging in positive conversations to foster changes in the world, the artist portrays conversation scenes in which he incorporates his signature large eye of enlightenment on subjects as an attempt to represent those who have gained knowledge and seek to enlighten others in the conversation process.

Sesse Elangwe, Genesis (2022), acrylic on canvas, 200 x 200cm. Courtesy of Bwo Art and the artist.

The ten large-scale paintings which will be on view in Paris until July 31 are the artist’s personal testimony on a crisis which has turned into an undocumented civil war. Using acrylic and through a combination of surrealism and cubism, Elangwe creates inverted face-exagerated figures represented against color-blocked backgrounds to engage viewers and put them in another world of thought and reflection. A key development and addition to his artistic language is the insertion of cocoyam leaves in group scenes as a way to accentuate the importance of togetherness, playing with the symbolism attached to the plant. 

Sesse Elangwe, Political Yahoo (2022), acrylic on canvas, 200 x 250cm. Courtesy of Bwo Art and the artist.

By subverting typical images related to war with representations of the people at its heart that depict their resilience, strength and spirit of solidarity, Elangwe’s aim through this series is to reclaim his people’s humanity as he renders a firsthand account of this tragic moment in history.  

In the group exhibition section of “Dicokam” which aims at celebrating Cameroon’s artistic lexicon, sculptor and multidisciplinary artist Beya Gille Gacha who recently unveiled a new installation at the 14th edition of the Dakar Biennale, will be presenting three sculptures including Coupe les bras, coupe l’histoire, coupe le pouvoir which results from discoveries on epigenetics and the transmission of trauma through generations by the artist.  Gille Gacha questions the historicity and symbolism of hand amputation. Metaphorically, cutting off someone’s hand is cutting off their ability to create their power. The artist draws a parallel between two ways of cutting off the capacity for action: by the violent removal of the forearms during colonization, and by historical, media, school, and family stigmatization.
 

About 193 Gallery: With a location in Paris, France and an outpost in Venice, Italy, 193 Gallery is one of the most dynamic galleries in the microcosme of contemporary art by artists from Africa in Europe. The gallery has worked with several emerging or confirmed artists from a vast number of countries across the world and represents today in Europe a selected number of African artists like Idris Habib, Thandiwe Miriu, Derrick Ofosu Boateng and Hassan Hajjaj. 

For press or general inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com

Emanuel Tegene: Neo-Expressionism to Depict Society On Canvas

Bwo Art is pleased to announce the representation of Addis-Ababa based artist Emanuel Tegene (b. 1983). The Ethiopian-born neo-expressionist artist captures multi-layered socio-political stories in his canvas. By mixing concrete society-based observations with abstract representations of characters and bodies, Tegene allows people to interpret these stories beyond the frame of the canvas. Using oil, acrylic, ink, charcoal, and pastels, his work combines figurative or abstract shapes and inscriptions with intense colors, and symbols which result in a complex yet balanced work. 

The artist who participated in the Marrakech and Dakar biennials in 2016 and 2018 respectively,  is best known for his minimalist and unconventional style focusing on local and global socio-political interactions. Tegene captures a myriad of thoughts, scenes, ideas, and conversations in a thought-provoking “diary of reflections and multi-layered stories.” His lighthearted work, reminiscent of his early days as an illustrator, invites his audience to interpret issues at hand beyond the frame. His surroundings, his life, and what he sees and hears, are the starting point of his creative process: from the concept to the medium.

“I process thoughts and ideas in my mind on how to best portray my reality in my art. Sometimes, these ideas are mature enough for me to transfer them directly into my canvas. And sometimes, these ideas are unripe, and it takes a longer time to get them and feel when they are ready. The relationship between my ripe ideas, thoughts and medium is an iterative process. I don’t choose the medium, it is the ideas that influence the medium.”

Neo-expressionism naturally appeared to Emanuel as the best way to express his reality, as a human and also as an artist. 

“For as long as I can remember, I have always been attracted to abstract and conceptual art. When I first started drawing and painting, I wasn’t necessarily familiar with neo-expressionism or what it entailed. I would say that my natural style and my inclination led me to discover later that my artwork is categorized as such.”

Tegene creates an ambiguous, almost mysterious understanding of things by mixing abstract and tangible elements on his canvas. His life as an artist helps to create his works. “Balancing Problems II” is inspired by what he experiences as an artist with clients and curators. He reflects on all the experiences vis-à-vis another on the art market, stating that: “The individual needs and motivation – be it ego, wanting a discount, or selfishness – will always serve as a check-and-balance to each other, balancing relationships.”

For sales and general inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com

Beya Gille Gacha at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris

We are delighted to announce that our artist Beya Gille Gacha has been invited to participate in the institutional exhibition “On the Road to Chiefdoms of Cameroon: The Visible and Invisible” which will open at the emblematic French museum of arts and culture Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris on April 5, and which will run until July 17, 2022.

The exhibition is presented to us as an invitation to discover or rediscover the rich culture of the communities and the preservation of a “unique, historical and living heritage” from the high plateaus of Grassfields in the West region of Cameroon. With tradition, power and culture at the heart of this exhibition dedicated to Cameroon’s chiefdoms, 300 works, including 260 treasures kept by several chiefs and family lineages, will be front and center of the show. 

Beya Gille Gacha, Venus Nigra, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Bwo Art.

Among the works of the few Contemporary artists invited to participate, there will be a sculpture of Beya Gille Gacha whose beading practice draws on her heritage as she revives a traditional technique from the Bamiléke people in Cameroon. 

To learn more about Beya Gille Gacha’s work, click here.

For sales and general inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com

Meet Bwo Art at 1-54 Paris! (April 7-10, 2022)

We will be attending  the upcoming edition of 1-54 Contemporary African art fair set to take place in Paris from 7-10 April 2022. Featuring 60 artists represented by 23 international exhibitors from all over the African continent, the fair will be hosted by Christie’s on Avenue Matignon. The decision of 1-54 and Christie’s to host a second pop up edition in Paris came after the cancellation of the 2022 Marrakech edition. However, we remain particularly delighted to attend 1-54 in Paris this year as the world reopens up and physical art fairs return.

If you wish for us to be your eyes at the fair, please do get in touch with us.

Highlight of Sesse Elangwe Ngeseli’s Debut Solo Exhibition

Last month, our Artist, Sesse Elangwe Ngeseli had his debut solo exhibition, “Dawn,” with Mitochondria Gallery in Houston, Texas, USA. 

In his interview with Art Advisor, Moriah Alise, and Art Writer, Kendra Walker, Sesse talks about “Dawn.” His debut solo exhibition explored aspects of enlightenment within the Black experience across the globe. In the body of work, Sesse draws from his personal experience as an immigrant living in the United States, and his prior life in Cameroon. The self-taught artist with a BSc. in Political Science, presented a new body of work to continue the conversation on striving for a better tomorrow. His signature use of the large eye is a constant reminder to challenge the status quo by creating and sharing ideas for the betterment of society.

Sesse Elangwe’s x Levi’s Strauss & Co 

Bwo Art is thrilled to announce that US based Cameroonian artist, Sesse Elangwe, has collaborated with clothing brand, Levi’s Strauss & Co, on the global window treatment celebrating the 150th anniversary of their iconic 501 jeans.

The fruit of this collaboration between the artist and the clothing brand is currently on display on Levi’s store windows across the world in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, Los Angeles and more. 

Tasked with the mission to create a work which celebrates the brand’s iconic jeans while infusing his signature, Elangwe created an original painting directly on glass which he titled, “Finding The Light.” In this work, a see-through figure of a fierce woman wearing dreadlocks arranged in a bun emerges from 501 denim jeans and wearing on her face, Sesse Elangwe’s signature enlarged eye, which represents enlightenment. 

Asked about how he felt working on this project, Sesse Elangwe said:

“The whole idea and conception was an amazing experience as this was something new to me. I had to go beyond the normal creative process to create a unique piece for the Levi’s window campaign. I titled the work, ‘Finding The Light,’ and the general idea behind it was to express myself in a way that would invite viewers to get into the work and find some sort of light from the experience they would get wearing Levi’s 501 jeans. Normally, when you wear an outfit you like, you feel comfortable and can express yourself confidently; hence in this original piece, which was executed on glass, the subject is wearing jeans of opportunities and with her confidence, she has a bigger vision on life.”

On our part, Bwo Art is honored to have advised Sesse on such an exciting project, and to have been part of the creative process. Seeing how creative and resourceful he can be when a new challenge is brought to him make us keener about working with him, and has us more excited about the future. 

The Coalition For Young African Artists 

Bwo Art is also thrilled to announce the launch of the Coalition For Young African Artists (CYAA), a pro-bono initiative piloted by Bwo Art under its corporate social responsibility program. This initiative was created to support emerging artists working in Africa through free counseling. To launch CYAA, Bwo Art teamed up with artists Alexis Peskine, Emma Prempeh and Solomon Adufah. The main objective of this initiative will be to provide critical feedback, sufficient information and insights to young artists evolving on the African continent, in order to help them navigate the art world and build a successful career.  

To learn more about this initiative and apply, please click here.


For press or general inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com

Bwo Art is pleased to announce “Dawn”, Sesse Elangwe’s debut solo exhibition with Mitochondria Gallery in Houston. On view from January 29th to February 25th, the exhibition which runs throughout Black History Month in America will showcase a new body of work inspired by the artist’s new life as an immigrant in the United States.

Centered around Black subjectivity, his new body of work continues to stress on the inseparable relationship between human existence and conversations whilst critically documenting some of the conditions experienced by Black communities in America. Elangwe’s ambitious body of work combines memories of his home country, Cameroon and how he imagined America to be, with his new reality as a Black immigrant in America. Through this combination, Elangwe is able to create a dialogue between Black people separated by history but who are essentially from the same roots.

Leaning on his personal understanding of “The African Origin Of Civilisation” by Cheikh Anta Diop, Elangwe who is already known for his signature large eye representing enlightenment decided to create a unique visual aesthetic whereby, subjects with rich dark complexions stand confident against detailed backgrounds. Executed with acrylic, the richness of the figures’ dark skin aims at celebrating Blackness and, challenging the representations that objectify or dehumanize Black people. On the other hand, the skillfully detailed backgrounds, often set outdoors, represent scenes from his new environment, showing the artist’s eagerness to explore his new life whilst drawing contrasts and similarities between the United States and Cameroon.

The solo exhibition, which opens on Saturday January 29th at 12 P.M. (CST), will be followed by a live stream talk hosted by art writer, Kendra Walker and art advisor, Moriah Alise at 3 P.M. (CST) on Mitochondria Gallery’s instagram page.

For more information or advisory inquiries, please contact:
brice@bwoart.com