African Art Now - by Osei Bonsu (Hardcover)

About the Book

"With African artists attracting sizable audience numbers to museums, setting sky-high auction records, and appearing in mainstream press, it has become impossible to overlook the cultural significance of contemporary African art today. Author and curator Osei Bonsu's engaging profiles of leading African artists--along with gorgeous full-color reproductions of their work--introduce readers to a generation of movers and shakers whose innovative artwork reflects on Africa as both an idea and an experience. Using diverse forms, languages, and expressions to articulate what it means to be a part of the world, these artists generate alternate histories and imaginative futures--work that is both personal and political, universal and incredibly specific. Their work helps define contemporary African art as a vast artistic and cultural movement. STELLAR ROSTER OF ARTISTS: Amoako Boafo, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Bronwyn Katz--from household names to up-and-coming artists, African Art Now features some of the most exciting artists working today. IMPORTANT AND TIMELY: Over the past two decades, contemporary African art has become part of the global mainstream, inspiring countless exhibitions, fairs, and auctions around the world. And yet, African art remains overlooked as an area of dedicated study due to continued academic and cultural bias. This book shines a spotlight on the artists whose wide-ranging accomplishments represent the shifting dynamics and boundless possibilities of African art today."--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

This deluxe hardcover survey, featuring profiles of 50 artists on the rise, is the definitive guide to contemporary African art.

With African artists attracting sizable audience numbers to museums, setting sky-high auction records, and appearing in mainstream press, it has become impossible to overlook the cultural significance of contemporary African art today. Author and curator Osei Bonsu's engaging profiles of leading African artists--along with gorgeous full-color reproductions of their work--introduce readers to a generation of movers and shakers whose innovative artwork reflects on Africa as both an idea and an experience. Using diverse forms, languages, and expressions to articulate what it means to be a part of the world, these artists generate alternate histories and imaginative futures--work that is both personal and political, universal and incredibly specific. Their work helps define contemporary African art as a vast artistic and cultural movement.

STELLAR ROSTER OF ARTISTS: Amoako Boafo, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Bronwyn Katz--from household names to up-and-coming artists, African Art Now features some of the most exciting artists working today.
IMPORTANT AND TIMELY: Over the past two decades, contemporary African art has become part of the global mainstream, inspiring countless exhibitions, fairs, and auctions around the world. And yet, African art remains overlooked as an area of dedicated study due to continued academic and cultural bias. This book shines a spotlight on the artists whose wide-ranging accomplishments represent the shifting dynamics and boundless possibilities of African art today.

Perfect for:

• Artists, art collectors, art lovers, and museumgoers
• Educators and students
• Anyone interested in learning about contemporary African art

Review Quotes

"In addition to top-notch reproductions of featured artwork, you can read engaging profiles written by Bonsu that explore the artist's backstory and creative process, illustrating the vastness of African cultures, experiences, and ideas." --Real Simple

"African Art Now offers a closer look at 50 of the most prolific and impactful artists working today. The author, Osei Bonsu, profiles each artist, offering a closer look at their processes and stories. It includes a mix of established figures--like Tunji Adeniyi-Jones--along with up-and-coming artists. It's an ideal gift for the art buff in your life or the person who wants to become one." --New York Magazine

"Osei Bonsu, a British Ghanaian curator of international art at the Tate Modern in London, brilliantly encapsulates the essential works of 50 up-and-coming artists of African heritage.... He draws out core themes across the artists' oeuvres--postcolonial dystopias, family portraits, future ecologies, portrayals of shifting cultural identities, and reclamations of history--which the artists tease out in various media (painting, sculpture, collage, video, installations)." --Library Journal

About the Author

Osei Bonsu is a British-Ghanaian curator and writer based in London and Paris. In 2020, Bonsu was named one of Apollo magazine's "40 under 40" leading African voices. He is a curator of international art at Tate Modern and lives in London.