EXTENDED TO 11 JUl
After the establishment of branches in Berlin and Cape Town, the original planning of the ARTCO team was to stop the exhibition operationsin the City of Aachen in order to concentrate exclusively on the new locations and on the international art fair business. Fortunately, the opportunity has now arisen to continue with exhibitions of our artists in the gallery in Aachen.
From the 1st of May 2020 the art collector Dieter Jacobs has taken over the ARTCO business premises in Seilgraben/Aachen. He will continue to run the gallery under the name ARTCO Gallery Aachen. Operating in close cooperation with the other companies of the ARTCO Group. The new owner of ARTCO Aachen is a fan of contemporary African art and has been collecting art with this focus for over 20 years. Dieter Jacobs describes himself as a lateral entrant. In addition to his knowledge of the international art scene, he has a solid business background.
An exhibition titled "ASPIRING" planned before the Corona crisis is now being realized under his guidance. Four artistic positions by emerging artists from Africa and the diaspora are on display. In addition to the galleries artists who have already been shown several times, such as Saidou Dicko and Evans Mbugua, Dieter Jacobs presents fabric collages by Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne and canvas works by the young painter Kufa Makwavarara for the first time.
We warmly invite you to the exhibition opening on Saturday, 30 May between 11.00 and 17.00 h.
About the artists:
Saidou Dicko, born in Burkina Faso in 1979, is autodidact. His artistic medium of expression is photography and painting. In addition, he creates installations and realizes video projects. In this exhibition new works from his work cycle “Shadowed-People” are presented. With seemingly childlike joy, Dicko re-creates shadow worlds of his native. The pictures are colorful and describe the light of the south of his African homeland. Dicko's overpainted photographs convey a message that teaches us not to perceive people based on their skin color, social background, ethnicity, or religion. The shadow has no prejudice. Saidou Dicko lives and works in Paris.
Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne was born in Accra-Ghana in 1983. He studied at the Ghanatta College for Art and Design in Accra-Ghana. His preferred materials are cotton and linen, which he combines with printed fabrics to expressive collages. Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne's art is grounded on the traditional tailoring of Ghana. In the past years he has created his distinctive style using sewing machines, brushes and pastel chalk. He combines Adinkra symbols of his cultural heritage with elements of pop art and graffiti art to an exciting patchwork. Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne lives in Düren / Germany.
Evans Mbugua, born in Nairobi in 1979, first studied in Kenya and later in France. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1997. Evans' creative means of expression is reverse glass painting. He tells illustrated stories, depicting everyday scenes and portrays friends and artists from Paris. The painting grounds glass and Plexiglas give him the opportunity to beautify his subjects through shine and reflections. He uses pictograms as a stylistic device to represent his urban environment. He lives and works in Paris
Kufa Makwavarara, born in 1983, born in Harare, Zimbabwe, studied from 2001 to 2003 in the Visual Art Studio at the Zimbabwean National Gallery. Kufa Makwavarara is an attentive observer of his environment. Although the artist has lived in Cape Town for many years, his mostly large-format expressive paintings address the political and social conditions in his home Zimbabwe. He is annotating grievances, injustices and political undesirable developments with canvas and brush very clearly never without a taint of irony and humor though. The artist is a meticulous painter who works out every detail with great care. Fast and spontaneous painting acts are alien to him. His works are carefully planned and conceived. He takes a lot of time, which is why there are always just a few paintings on the art market available. Kufa Makwavarava is one of the promising young talents of the African continent, who are about to conquer the international art scene.
