Women Power - the new exhibition at Melbye-Konan Gallery deals with the theme of femininity and its various aspects. The strength of women, the obstacles and challenges they face in their lives, their roles in contemporary society - in Africa but also globally, are the common denominator of this exhibition.
The curator Stella Melbye-Konan is particularly concerned to present a neutral perspective on the continent of Africa. Because often this is distorted with an exotic, objectifying as well as western point of view and testifies to a long outdated understanding of Africa. In order to give women a voice and a face, works by various artists will be shown.
In fact, more women in Africa are entrepreneurs than men and make up 58% of the continent's self-employed population. In addition, women usually take most of the responsibility for work at home, including childcare.
Yéanzis seems in his paintings the faces, smiles and laughter of women - and their strength - are the things that give form to the plastic that the artist uses as a medium, rather than the other way around. Kone Zie's paintings reflect his fascination with one of the most important aspects of womanhood, the miracle of childbirth and motherhood, seen in his two paintings Les mères and La mère et les enfants. His works are about community, the care and tenderness of mothers. The stunning portraits by Nigerian artist Vivian Timothy, who lives in Germany, present emancipated women who are proud of their origins and traditions. In addition, the artist's work draws on the continent's forgotten myths and stories.
In the female portraits of Serges Aboua, Zinahin and Atwola both present the beauty of women. In doing so, they do not reproduce the existing exotic image of the African woman, but present a modern image of the contemporary woman. It is the combination of aura, devotion, love, joie de vivre and strength that defines the concept of woman's beauty in their works. The paintings of the German artist Anna Belen prove that this change of perspective is also possible in the Western tradition. By combining abstract and figurative painting, she expresses her fascination with freedom, strength and joie de vivre, as found in the dance of skater Oumi Janta. Gbais Obou's works revolve around the theme of human vulnerability and femininity. In the exhibited work, the artist deals with the serious issue of breast cancer and wants to raise awareness among women to have a screening in time.
All exhibited works show women as independent individuals and are a tribute to femininity in all its facets.
An exhibition by Stella Melbye-Konan, Curatorial assistance by Anna Kiseleva.
The curator Stella Melbye-Konan is particularly concerned to present a neutral perspective on the continent of Africa. Because often this is distorted with an exotic, objectifying as well as western point of view and testifies to a long outdated understanding of Africa. In order to give women a voice and a face, works by various artists will be shown.
In fact, more women in Africa are entrepreneurs than men and make up 58% of the continent's self-employed population. In addition, women usually take most of the responsibility for work at home, including childcare.
Yéanzis seems in his paintings the faces, smiles and laughter of women - and their strength - are the things that give form to the plastic that the artist uses as a medium, rather than the other way around. Kone Zie's paintings reflect his fascination with one of the most important aspects of womanhood, the miracle of childbirth and motherhood, seen in his two paintings Les mères and La mère et les enfants. His works are about community, the care and tenderness of mothers. The stunning portraits by Nigerian artist Vivian Timothy, who lives in Germany, present emancipated women who are proud of their origins and traditions. In addition, the artist's work draws on the continent's forgotten myths and stories.
In the female portraits of Serges Aboua, Zinahin and Atwola both present the beauty of women. In doing so, they do not reproduce the existing exotic image of the African woman, but present a modern image of the contemporary woman. It is the combination of aura, devotion, love, joie de vivre and strength that defines the concept of woman's beauty in their works. The paintings of the German artist Anna Belen prove that this change of perspective is also possible in the Western tradition. By combining abstract and figurative painting, she expresses her fascination with freedom, strength and joie de vivre, as found in the dance of skater Oumi Janta. Gbais Obou's works revolve around the theme of human vulnerability and femininity. In the exhibited work, the artist deals with the serious issue of breast cancer and wants to raise awareness among women to have a screening in time.
All exhibited works show women as independent individuals and are a tribute to femininity in all its facets.
An exhibition by Stella Melbye-Konan, Curatorial assistance by Anna Kiseleva.
