Efie Gallery, a young space established by the Ghanian family Mintah in Dubai last year and another first-time exhibitor at Art Dubai, boasts a strong presentation of six contemporary African artists. Basket Mouth (2022), a shimmering centerpiece in aluminum and copper wire by El Anatsui, a ubiquitous presence at these affairs, is installed beside the striking painting Serenity (2022-2023) by Isshaq Ismail of a distorted face layered in various intensities of cobalt blue which he made in Dubai as an artist-in-residence. Ismail is paired with two new works by London-based Nigerian artist Slawn comprised of faces with red puckered lips floating above an electric blue sea titled Empty Vessels and I G B O (both 2023). The works add an expressive emoji-like vibe to the politically loaded concept of color. The other side of the booth includes an elegant textile piece by Abdoulaye Konaté (Study of green Toureg AK, from 2018), which sold for $52,000 to a private collector. It gestures towards an older generation of artists who investigated color through abstraction.
Full Article: The Best Booths at Art Dubai 2023 – ARTnews.com