Upcoming Fairs

As part of this edition`s Special Projects, 1-54 is delighted to be collaborating with Pioneer Works (@pioneerworks) on a presentation by Kenseth Armstead. ⁠
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True North: Feet Don’t Fail Me Now celebrates the one hundred thousand Africans that escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad. The presentation comprises thirty-four sculptures, one for each state during the existence of the Underground Railroad. The waxed wood and steel works are marked by more than one hundred thousand hot-comb burns, one for each of the enslaved Africans self-liberated by the Underground Railroad.⁠
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Kenseth Armstead’s work explores African achievement and the legacy of enslaved Africans and their descendants through conceptual art. Over three decades, the artist’s work has addressed unsung heroes in American culture and public dialogue.⁠
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🎟️ Get your ticket via the link in bio⁠
🗓️18 - 21 May 2023 ⁠
📍Manhattanville Factory District of West Harlem, 439 W 127th St, New York⁠
#154artfair⁠
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Image: Kenseth Armstead, Object with 3K Burns, True North: Feet Don’t Fail Me Now, courtesy of the artist. @kenseth.armstead

As part of this edition`s Special Projects, 1-54 is delighted to be collaborating with Rise Art on a presentation by Nelson Makamo.⁠
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Living and working in Johannesburg, Nelson Makamo’s (B. 1982, Limpopo) is known for his paintings and drawings that redress decades of images that have portrayed African children as destitute. This presentation of his work will re-introduce the New York audience to Makamo. At its centre will be a large-scale tapestry created by the artist in collaboration with a team of artisans, displayed here for the first time outside of South Africa. The work, which combines Makamo’s painterly style with the gridlike precision of weaving, features a child who towers above the viewer and looks out at them through round glasses with a mixture of melancholy and hope. ⁠
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🎟️ Get your ticket via the link in bio⁠
🗓️18 - 21 May 2023 ⁠
📍Manhattanville Factory District of West Harlem, 439 W 127th St, New York⁠
#154artfair⁠
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Image: Nelson Makamo, Tapestry, courtesy of the artist and RISE ART @nelsonmakamo

Opening tomorrow: Sparkling Islands, Another Postcard of the Caribbean ⁠
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⁠Curated by Caryl Ivrisse Crochemar & [creative renegades society.]⁠ @creativerenegades⁠
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1-54 is pleased to present Sparkling Islands, Another Postcard of the Caribbean, a group exhibition of contemporary Caribbean artists. This exhibition is the first by 1-54 Presents, a new programme of pop-up exhibitions by 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, and features work by:⁠
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April Bey (@aprilbey_), Jean-Ulrick Désert (@jeanulrickdesert), Roland Dorcély, Adler Guerrier (@adlerguerrier), Deborah Jack (@debjack0), Leasho Johnson (@leasho_johnson), Remy Jungerman (@remy.jungerman), Anina Major (@aninamajor), Johanna Mirabel (@johanna.mirabel.art), Zak Ové (@zakove), Nyugen E. Smith (@bundlehouse), Yoan Sorin (@yoan_sorin), and Alberta Whittle (@purebred.mongrel). ⁠
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🗓️11 - 20 May 2023 ⁠
📍High Line Nine, 507 W 27th St, New York, NY 10001⁠
ℹ️ Further information via the link in bio!⁠
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Image: ⁠
Alberta Whittle,⁠
In tidal movementations, she carves out memories, 2022⁠
Acrylic, Florida Water, Bay Rum on cotton⁠
78.74 x 78.74 in (200 x 200 cm)⁠
Courtesy of the artist & Nicola Vassell gallery.⁠
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#154artfair #154Presents ⁠

We can’t wait to welcome you to the 2023 edition of 1-54 New York. Get your tickets now via the link in bio!⁠
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VIP preview⁠
May 18, 11 am - 7 pm⁠
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Public opening hours⁠
Friday, May 19, 11 am - 7 pm⁠
Saturday, May 20, 11 am - 7 pm⁠
Sunday, May 21, 11 am - 5 pm ⁠
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🎟️ Get your ticket via the link in bio⁠
🗓️18 - 21 May 2023 ⁠
📍Manhattanville Factory District of West Harlem, 439 W 127th St, New York⁠
⁠#154artfair⁠
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Image: Salifou Lindou, Boxeur noir 1, 2022, Pastel on paper mounted on canvas, 150 x 130 cm. Courtesy of AFIKARIS.

As part of this edition`s Special Projects, 1-54 is delighted to be collaborating with Azikiwe Mohammed on Leroy’s Luncheon!⁠
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The project visually presents a staged diner in which Mohammed plays the role of Leroy on a fictional televised cooking show called Lunch With Leroy. Dealing with themes of unseen histories and shared memories, the show focuses on recipes that swing between family secrets, friends’ favourite meals, memories of people no longer with us and personal traditions.⁠
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This 1-54 Special Project will encompass paintings, t-shirts, neon, ceramic plates and tiles along with a limited number of Mohammed’s cookbooks, which will be available to purchase. Mohammed will also be hosting a live taping of Lunch With Leroy during fair, open to fair attendees on a first come first served basis. ⁠
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🎟️ Get your ticket via the link in bio⁠
🗓️18 - 21 May 2023 ⁠
📍Manhattanville Factory District of West Harlem, 439 W 127th St, New York⁠
#154artfair⁠
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Image: Courtesy of Azikiwe Mohammed @misterace12

Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi’s art practice aims to explore and contextualise the concept that the human soul transcends the physical realm as we engage with spiritual practices. Exuding colour, his densely populated collages are an amalgam of figurative and abstract paintings, prints, drawings, and etchings on Fabriano paper arranged on canvas and delineated with inky lines. Nyahunzvi is constantly refining his signature technique and process yet maintains signature elements of his visual language, such as the black and white zebra stripes, an ode to his Mbizi totem (mutupo), and a symbol through which he asserts his identity.⁠
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Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi (@option_dzikamai) will be represented by Wunika Mukan Gallery (@wunikamukangallery) at this year’s edition of 1-54 New York!⁠
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Image: ​​Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi, Shakara, 2022, Oil, Acrylic and Paper, 119cm x 135cm. Courtesy of Wunika Mukan.

Isabelle D.’s upbringing was constellated by female figures that now inspire her current practice. ⁠
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Memories play a crucial role in her work. In her quest to let go of moments permeated by manual processes historically associated with female work, she explores contemporary feminism and the translation of trauma. She creates abstract landscapes as a way of decolonising her past and reclaiming the present, as well as celebrating her memory, self, and heritage.⁠
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Her ‘sculptural paintings’ seek to draw the viewer’s attention to the process of creation rather than solely on the resultant object. Created through crocheting, embroidering, weaving, knitting, and dismantling previous existing yarns, upon first encounter, viewers are struck by the labour intensiveness of the work, and the manual and time-consuming craftsmanship of the process. ⁠
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Isabelle D. (@isabelled_art) will be represented by Gallery Nosco (@gallerynosco) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Isabelle D, From The Bruise Series, 2023, Hand Crocheted fibres on canvas, 120 x 90 cm. Courtesy of Gallery Nosco.

Rufai Zakari is based between Accra and Bawku, Ghana. A former apprentice of Mozzay, a senior artist in Nima, Accra, Zakari graduated from the Ghanatta College of Art and Design in 2011. His work examines consumerism, environmental pollution, labour, trade, and the perils of industrialization in contemporary Ghanaian Society. The founder of Rujab Eco-Art Foundation in his hometown of Bawku, Zakari’s practice is rooted in the recycling of waste in the streets of Ghana. Following decades of tribal conflict which took countless lives and left the city in ruins, Zakari’s work looks to the future with optimism and a strong ambition to rebuild what has been lost.⁠
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Rufai Zakari (@rufaiart) will be represented by Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (@kristinhjellegjerdegallery) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Rufai Zakari, Catch Me Here, 2023, Mixed Media / Plastic Bags and Food Wraps, 144.5 x 130.4 cm. Courtesy of Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.

Johanna Mirabel is a French artist of Guyanese and Caribbean origin who graduated from the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. Oscillating between abstraction, expressionism, and realism, Mirabel’s practice seeks to represent the complexities inherent in a life lived between cultures. Inspired by the lyrical Creolisation of Édouard Glissant, she develops dynamic compositions; pictorial planes upon which characters — often representations of the artist or those close to her — find themselves embedded, nestled or merging in their changing environment. Moving between painting and sculpture, Mirabel encourages viewers to mentally inhabit her paintings, and explore alternate realities. ⁠
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Johanna Mirabel (@johanna.mirabel.art) will be represented by Luce Gallery (@lucegallery) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Johanna Mirabel, Living Room n. 28, 2022, Oil on Linen, 210 x 224 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Luce Gallery, Turin (Italy).

Mbaye Babacar Diouf is a Senegalese, multi-media artist whose graphic work uses symbolism to examine human relationships. Since graduating from the National School of Arts and the Cheikh Anta Diop University, both located in Dakar, Mbaye Babacar Diouf has split his time between teaching art and developing his own body of work. An emerging artist, Diouf works across painting, sculpture, and installation. He is interested in re-examining the modernist Senegalese intellectual tradition through the lens of archeology and observing changes in the national socio- economic and political contexts, with a focus on notions of literal and symbolic human mark-making.⁠
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Mbaye Babacar Diouf (@mbayebabacardioufofficiel) will be represented by 50 GOLBORNE (@50golborneart) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Mbaye Babacar Diouf, Fantasme, 2022, Bronze, 30 x 30cm, Unique. Courtesy of 50 Golborne.

As a photographer, Alun Be strives to represent African modernity. His captivating images distinguish themselves through profound expression in high contrast. Born in Dakar, Senegal, his work draws links between his upbringing in France, the United States, and West Africa. Be`s constantly evolving and varied practice also focuses on the human condition in public spaces.⁠
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Alun Be (@alunbe) will be represented by LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery (@lsguirandou.gallery) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Alun Be, Enlightened Play, 2017, Archival pigments on FineArt paper, 80 x 120 cm, #3/5 + 2 AP. Courtesy LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery.

Sana Musasama is a ceramic artist whose work is informed by her global travels, and interests in women’s studies and indigenous artistic practices. Musasama began travelling as a way to recover identity and cultural place. Clay was the geographical catalyst that first brought her to West Africa where she studied pottery with the Mende people in Sierra Leone (1974–75). Later venturing to Japan, China, Cambodia, and South America, she continued her quest, expanding her interests to tribal adornment practices. She is interested in issues concerning women’s safety, specifically rituals involving rites of passage and female chastity. Musasama’s work can be found in the collections of the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Museum of Art and Design, among others. ⁠
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Sana Musasama (@sanamusasama) will be represented by Eric Firestone Gallery (@ericfirestonegallery) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Sana Musasama, Montana Series #1 (House Series #6), 1985, Ceramic, 31.75h x 40.64w x 12.70d cm. Courtesy of Eric Firestone Gallery.

At a young age, the artistic talents of Haitian painter and poet Roland Dorcely (1930-2017) were spotted and nurtured. A founding father of the foundation of the Foyer des Arts Plastiques in Port-au-Prince, throughout his career Dorcély developed both his painting and poetic practices, with Jean-Paul Sartre publishing his poems in the magazine Les Temps Modernes and his murals being commissioned for the Hollywood residence of producer David O. Selznick. Always of medium format and painted in oil, his exuberant landscapes, still lifes and female nudes which often portray models as posing or playing with a chair, are distinguished by their layered compositions, earthy tones, and flat, bold colors.⁠
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Roland Dorcély’s work will be presented by Loeve&Co (@loeveandco) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Roland Dorcély, The Mill seen from the Boat, Circa 1958, Oil on canvas, 50 x 64 cm, Courtesy Loeve&Co. Photo: Fabrice Gousset.

Chinaedu Nwadibia firmly believes in the functions of portraiture, storytelling, and the supernatural. The orality of her Nigerian and African American heritage has nurtured a strong sense of legacy and generational power. Using photography, sculpture, and performance, she advocates for herself and others, illuminating the spaces just out of view and prompting a further investigation into how one perceives their surroundings. Her explorations have allowed her practice to exist beyond the conventions of the archive or historical narrative, while also operating within these frameworks tethering herself to the human experience.⁠
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Chinaedu Nwadibia (@clataclata) will be represented by Superposition Gallery (@superpositiongallery) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Chinaedu Nwadibia, The Weight, 2021, archival inkjet print, 70 x 42.5 inches, 1 of 2. Courtesy of Superposition Gallery.

Fidelis Joseph’s practice fuses his direct and indirect life experiences in Nigeria and the United States with the everyday information he collects from news media, in constant exploration of the profundity of the human condition. For Fidelis, the mind contains a wealth of information, and his interest in artistic media is to set forth fragments of events or scenes that he has encountered. He considers himself a documentarian. In the depth of his visuality is a treasure trove of the sublimity of African storytelling. There are nuanced odes to childhood stories passed on from his grandmother, the surrealism of some African folktales - such as Amos Tutuola - and the mythological conceit of Chigozie Obioma, Wole Soyinka, Ben Okri, and J.P Clark, among other African writers. Alongside them are western writers such as Dan Brown. His interest in fiction contributes to his visual vernacular. ⁠
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Fidelis Joseph (@fidelisjoseph_) will be represented by DADA Gallery (@thedadagallery) at 1-54 New York 2023⁠
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Image: Fidelis Joseph, Sai bakin dutse, 2021, Oil and pastel on canvas, 213 x 182 cm. Courtesy of DADA Gallery.

Angèle Etoundi Essamba is an artist concerned with representations of the African women’s identities. Her pursuit is in equal parts aesthetic, idealistic, realistic, and societal. She joins the spirit of humanist photography with a strong attachment to the values of communion. With colourful, tangled, and intertwined threads, she speaks of filial, matrimonial, and transmission relationships. Beauty, symbolism, and realistic utopia are illustrated by sculptural headdresses and a control of colours.⁠
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Angèle Etoundi Essamba (@angele.essamba) will be represented by Galerie Carole Kvasnevski (@galeriecarolekvasnevski) at 1-54 New York 2023! ⁠
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Image: Angèle Etoundi Essamba, Déploiement 4, 2019, Photo mounted on dibond, Anti-reflective plexiglas and Baroque frame, Limited edition of 15, 80 x 80 cm; 100 x 100 cm, ‘Renaissance’ series. Courtesy of Galerie Carole Kvasnevski.

Mobolaji Ogunrosoye uses collage and photography to explore selfhood, body image, and the impact of societal influences on personal identity as it is related to Nigerian women. Her work revolves around ideation and exploring the different ways in which images of the female body may be distorted. In the Portraits series, Ogunrosoye creates multi-layer collages, incorporating a process of burning and cutting to create depth in revealing underlying layers of images. ⁠
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Mobolaji Ogunrosoye (@also_known_as_bojj) will be represented by kó (@ko_artspace) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Mobalaji Ogunrosoye, Ikhadijah, 2022, Photo collage; archival paper, burnt Fabriano paper, rough textured Fabriano paper, 66 x 66 cm. Courtesy of the artist and kó.

Shifting between fiction and nonfiction in his narrative paintings, Ronald Hall distorts domestic interiors, plantations, and other environmental structures into eerie dreamscapes that invoke historical and contemporary issues involving race and social constructionism. Hall’s work presents interpretations of historical and contemporary African-American themes and related issues which are often loosely based upon characters and stories drawn from various history books, literature, magazines, and ongoing research.⁠
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Roland Hall (@ronaldhallstudios) will be represented by Duane Thomas Gallery(@duanethomasgallery) at 1-54 New York 2023!⁠
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Image: Ronald Hall, Cataclysmic Negritude, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Duane Thomas Gallery.