African Art Club

Brooklyn Museum: ‘African Innovations’ (continuing)

African Art William C. Siegman…

The museum is doing some reshuffling on its first floor, and the African galleries, which once claimed a privileged spot next to the lobby, have been relocated a distance away and reduced in size. But the new display, “African Innovations,” is effective.

See the video in the members section below…

Three-Headed Figure (Sakimatwemtwe). Unidentified Lega artist. South Kivu or Maniema province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 19th century. Wood, fiber, kaolin, 5 1/2 x 2 x 1 1/8 in. (14 x 5.1 x 2.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.486

It eliminates the graphic overkill of the former installation; sets out work with an easily graspable logic; and over all shows the African holdings to decent advantage. It would be pretty hard not to.

In the members section below discover a surprising Malawi portrait mask from Elvis Presley & images from some of the exposed objects and a video and more articles about the event.

The collection is ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures’

New exhibit unmasks the past, puts names to historic faces

Heroic Africans  Alisa LaGamma

(through Jan. 29 2012) If you still think that African art is not your thing, here’s a show that may change your mind.

It’s as beautiful to look at as a show can be and it’s a perception-changer in the way that it argues against ...