From South to North: A Discovery of International Galleries at Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2024

From South to North, collectors, galleries and artists across the globe will return to Cape Town’s sweltering- but gorgeous- February heat to experience contemporary and modern art liberated, limitless and ‘Unbound’- the theme of Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2024. In a world where we are governed by the confines of border control, passports, visas, and oceans- the Investec Cape Town Art Fair serves as a meeting point for the art world to gather without the weight of these limitations.

 

The ‘Unbound’ calls for a new liberative epistemology that is not just felt in its theoretical and metaphorical sense but also one that can be felt in the physical borderlessness it calls for. As a meeting point of the global art market with the African continent, the Investec Cape Town Art Fair continues to push for an international collectivism within the worldwide art scene.

 

It is thus with great pleasure that we present the international galleries exhibiting at the 11th edition of the Investec Cape Art Fair- the leading platform for discovery and connection between the African and international contemporary art market.

 

 

Afriart Gallery (Kampala, Uganda), A.Gorgi (Tunis, Tunisia), Amasaka Gallery (Masaka, Uganda), Ana Mas Projects (Barcelona, Spain), Anna Laudel (Istanbul/ Bodrum/ Düsseldorf, Turkey/ Germany), ARTCO Gallery (Berlin, Germany), artHARARE (Harare, Zimbabwe), Bode (Berlin, Germany), The Bridge Gallery (Issy-les-Moulineaux, France), Borna Soglo Gallery (Cotonou, Benin), C24 Gallery (New York, United States), Galerie Caroline O'Breen (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Circle Art Gallery (Nairobi, Kenya), First Floor Gallery Harare (Harare, Zimbabwe), Eric Dupont (Paris, France), Galerie Alain Gutharc (Paris, France), Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan/ Dakar/ Paris, Ivory Coast/ Senegal/ France), Galerie EIGEN + ART (Leipzig/ Berlin, Germany), Galleria Anna Marra (Rome, Italy), Galleria Giovanni Bonelli (Milan/ Pietrasanta, Italy), Gregor Podnar (Vienna, Austria), Iadema Studio (Torina, Italy), Jonathan Carver Moore (San Francisco, United States), Le Violon Bleu (Tunis, Tunisia), LIS10 Gallery (Arezzo/ Paris, Italy/ France), Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art (Cairo, Egypt), MOVART (Luanda/ Lisbon, Angola/ Portugal), Nil Gallery (Paris, France), No Man's Art Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Ora Loapi (Gaborone, Botswana), Osart Gallery (Milan, Italy), P420 (Bologna, Italy), Post Gallery (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Reiners Contemporary Art (Marbella, Spain), Rele Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria), Samuel Maenhoudt Gallery (Knokke, Belgium), Shazar Gallery (Naples, Italy), Suburbia Contemporary (Barcelona, Spain).

 

Bordering our northernmost province, situated in the beating heart of Harare, Zimbabwe, First Floor Gallery’s loyal return marks its ninth year as an ICTAF exhibitor- a legacy by anyone’s standards. The unwavering support and devotion shown by its founders, Marcus Gora and Valerie Kabov (both artistic practitioners in their own right) have long been felt by both the fair and the artists of its origin. The gallery welcomed Laura Vincentti, our Director and Sophie Lalonde, the Head of VIP and Business Development, back in October 2022 for a four day programme that included awe-inspiring studio visits that truly spotlighted the dedication to artistic development of this artist-run initiative. For 2024, you can expect to see the works of Wycliffe Mundopa, Grace Nyahangare (a recent graduate from the gallery’s residency programme), Zacharaha Magasa, Mavis Tauzeni, Zanele Mutema, Pebofatso Mokoena, Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude, Troy Makaza as well as Helen Teede presenting in SOLO, curated by Sean O’Toole.

 

As we climb our way up the continent, galleries across Africa conquer the fair’s ‘anti-booth’ ALT section- a platform for incubation and discovery for artists, galleries and collectors alike. We welcome Zimbabwean gallery, artHARARE as well as Amasaka Gallery (Uganda), Iadema Studio (Italy) and Post Gallery (Ethiopia) making their fair debut alongside newly founded and innovative exhibitors that make up ALT’s third iteration.

 

On the West Coast of Southern Africa in Luanda, Angola, MOVART (established in 2015) returns for its third year at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. Founded by Janire Bilbao, the gallery ensures contemporary art, made by artists within the Portuguese diaspora, reaches the global art market. Bringing together artists from Angola, Brazil and South Africa, the works of the gallery’s emerging artists (Ana Paula Sirino, Kay-Leigh Fisher, Chelsea Selvan, Gabriella Marinho, Evan Claver, Oksana Dias, Benigno Mangovo, Zoha Zafar) will act as a catalyst for artistic discourse on reaching a Global South.

 

Crossing the African plane, the Nairobi-based gallery, Circle Art Gallery, returns as exhibitor of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. Circle Art Gallery has been an incredible supporter and friends of the fair, returning for the eighth year. With a drive to build a local collector-based, Circle Art Gallery’s founders, Danda Jaroljmek, Arvind Vohora and Fiona Fox (entirely female team), ensure an international presence for artists of Africa’s Eastern Region. The gallery has exhibited in major art fairs across the globe and will be presenting a solo show of new works by on-the-rise Ethiopian artist, Tiemer Tegane.

Over the Kenyan border and on Lake Victoria’s coastline, Ugandan gallery, Afriart Gallery is a gallery that has earned its legacy title. Back for its seventh year at the fair, the gallery’s impressive list of international recognition is truly something to marvel at (most recently, 2023 marked its third year as an Art Basel Miami Beach exhibitor). Gallery founder, Daudi Karungi’s dedication to representing Africa's contemporary artists on a global level is fundamental to the gallery’s core belief system. As a trained artist, Karungi truly understands the challenges the continent’s artists face and ensures a supportive community that aids in visibility for its artists.

 

It’s a well-known plight of galleries across African soil - how to connect the talent here to the greater art world? With the rise of ‘brain drains’ and ‘grass is greener’ mentalities, it is more critical than ever to build up the art community within one’s country and Borna Soglo Gallery’s founder, Adenile Borna Soglo showcases what the adage “there’s no place like home” truly means. Following a hard pivot from a London law school education, Borna Soglo’s homecoming in 2016 was spurred on by his involvement in the city’s art scene. The year spent immersing himself in the vibrancy of Dakar’s art world, the experience brought him back to the heart of central Africa, Benin to establish Borna Sogla Gallery in 2021. In just two years, the gallery has challenged and redefined gallery standards in the Beninese contemporary art scene (Borna Soglo calls it a “suave spirit of insubordination”) and will exhibit at the fair for the first time with artists, Nobel Koty, Tamibé Bourdanné in the third iteration of the ALT section.

 

As the art economy spins and turns alongside the uncertainty of the rest of the world, Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art stands firm as one of Cairo’s oldest contemporary art galleries and a true pillar to its contemporary art scene. Returning to the fair, the gallery brings with them one of Egypt’s most famous and influential artists Adel El Siwi alongside the emerging talent of Essam Alaa and Ahmed Lesi to play off each other’s mediums and thematics for 2024.

 

Completing the road to Africa’s north, Tunisian gallery, A.Gorgi Gallery (established in 1990) returns as an exhibitor at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. The Northernmost gallery from Africa of the Main section shares the core values and beliefs of its neighbouring countries- a drive to foster and nourish the fresh perspectives of its contemporary artists. The gallery strives to connect modern global trends to its Tunisian art scene and the innovation of its exhibition spaces and thematics is one to be admired. A.Gorgi Gallery will present Najah Zarbout, Ymen Berhouma and Mohamed Amine Hammouda at the 11th edition of the fair.

 

The Investec Cape Town Art Fair is a true reflection of its 2024 theme and its diversity can be felt. Across the continent of Africa’s Northern neighbour, the return of past and welcoming of new European exhibitors is eagerly anticipated.

 

Crossing the narrow sea and Bosphorus strait- bridging the South to the North and East to West- Turkish gallery, Anna Laudel returns with Ardan Özmenoglu tongue-in-cheek sticky notes (“WHEN I BOUGHT THIS ARTWORK, I CLEARLY HAD TOO MUCH CHAMPAGNE”- an absolute ‘har har’ moment for fair-goers and collectors alike). Alongside Ardan Özmenoglu, the gallery will exhibit artists Ekin Su Koc, Mathias Hornung and Daniele Sigalot in a love letter to the discarded and banal daily objects- post-its, paper and the afterlife of wood.

 

 

Marking its sixth year as an exhibitor (proving to be a true friend of the fair), German gallery ARTCO will present artists across the African continent. Marcelo Brodsky, Tesprit and Patrick Tagoe-Turkson Saidou Dick will address the emotional relationship towards existential quests, identity struggles and communitarian solutions of our planet through a variety of materialities.

 

Also representing Germany, Galerie EIGEN + ART returns as exhibitors of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. With artists spread across the globe, the gallery nourishes the innovation of artistic practice and plays pivotal roles in the mentorship and guidance of their artists’ careers. With locations in both Leipzig and Berlin, Galerie EIGEN + ART will showcase Brett Charles Seiler, Gabrielle Kruger, David Schnell, Nicola Samorì, Maja Behrmann and Jana Schulz unpacking their own interpretation of the ‘Unbound’. Galerie EIGEN + ART will not only feature in both Tomorrows/ Today and Main but will also host a pop-up exhibition as part of our public programme, ‘Unbound City’.

 

Hosted by Galerie EIGEN + ART, “Resilience: Pleasure and Self Care in a Precarious World” will showcase the works of artists Nyakallo Maleke, Sethembile Msezane, Slindile Mthembu, Thandiwe Msebenzi, Cazlynne Peffer curated by Thuli Mlambo-James. The exhibition will be open to the public from 10H00 - 17H00 to fair-goers.

 

 

For its 4th year at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Bode (Germany) puts forth Layo Bright, Elizabet Cerviño, Anoushka Mirchandani, Muofhe Manavhela and Tariku Shiferaw- all of who represent the gallery’s drive to cut through narrative aesthetics and the impulse to create.

 

Fourth time exhibitor and Italian gallery, Osart Gallery was established in 2008 by Andrea Sirio Ortolani. The gallery is well known to the international art scene, showcasing at international art fairs across the world. The gallery is also known as the first Italian gallery to represent, promote and support African artists. Since its founding, the gallery has focused on the influence of the 1960s/1970s, taking inspiration from the leading figures of conceptual art, kinetic and body art and photography of that period. Having featured Jeanne Gaigher in the SOLO section of 2023, Gaigher will return with Osart Gallery alongside works by Sethembile Msezane, Katharien De Villiers, Franklyn Dzingai, Wilfred Timire and Ikeorah Chisom Chi-FADA.

 

Italian gallery P420's return to the Investec Cape Town Art Fair is eagerly anticipated by fair-goers and collectors. Established in 2010, the gallery will debut fresh works by Adelaide Cioni, Francis Offman, Irma Blank, Victor Fotso Nyie and Rodrigo Hernánde (Offman is notably a finalist for the Norval Sovereign Prize). Having focused primarily on the Conceptual and Minimalist movement and the artists of the 60s/70s, the gallery has shifted its focus to collaborate with the subsequent generations (the heirs of their talent) or the foundations that represent them. The intergenerational conversation and relationships fostered by the gallery is something that mimics our new curated section, Generations (co-curated by Natasha Becker and Amogelang Maledu). The variety of the artists’ materiality is truly a space of discovery for all.

 

 

French gallery, Eric Dupont will feature artists Senzeni Marasela, Willys Kezi, Romeo Mivekannin, Terence Musikewa spread across Africa and French artist, Katarzyna Wiesiolek. Dupont, the gallery’s founder, presses the importance of a gallerist’s role in facilitating connections for the artists they represent.

 

Originally located in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Galerie Cécile Fakhoury, is a known presence at all major art fairs. In 2018, the gallery opened two new spaces- one in Paris and the other in Dakar. The gallery has been a true supporter of Investec Cape Town Art Fair and is wildly known within the global art scene as a proud and respected representation of the African contemporary art scene. In their sixth year as an ICTAF exhibitor, the gallery will present a solo show by artist Carl-Edouard Keïta (Abidjan) with works that plunge the viewer into an intimate, vibrant world of shapes, colours and emotions. His works play with the idea of bridging eras and continents and the geometricity of his work is inspired by his childhood fascination with lines and form, perfected now after years of intricate practice.

 

 

The Investec Cape Town Art Fair has long situated itself as a space of discovery- both for artists and galleries alike and this year is no exception. The fair eagerly anticipates the debut of Italian gallery, Galleria Anna Marra and their incredible group of artists (Andrés Anza, Khadija Jayi and Veronica Botticelli), addressing human existence through the lens of memory in a beautiful sonnet of ceramic sculpture, domestic pieces and burnt paper.

 

It is without question that Galleria Giovanni Bonelli is a longtime friend of the fair. The works will revolve around female identity, with returning artists Maria Lai and Michela Martello with skillfully sewed pieces that comment on the craftsmanship historically designated to feminine space.

 

Deeply missed in the last three years of Investec Cape Town Art Fair, the return of Gregor Podnar signifies the true friendship and connection between this gallery and fair. Gregor Podnar (Austria) returns with artist Dan Perjovschi alongside Helen Verhoeven, Marieta Chirulescu, Thania Petersen and Robert Gabris- linking the South African art world to the international presence. Locals may remember Perjovschi’s innovative and comical work on A4 Arts Foundation walls as a commentary on his month in the Mother City. The gallery’s namesake, founder Gregor Podnar, positions his gallery as a cutting edge and international presence (including that of major art fairs).

 

 

Lis10 gallery (Italy) links the African art scene and the global art market. The works presented by artists Michelle Okpare, Goncalo Mabunda, James Mishio, Laetitia Ky, and Yeanzi will highlight a variety of mediums and cultural backgrounds. French gallery, The Bridge Gallery to our Main section, featuring works by Sarfo Emmanuel Annor, Ishmael Armarh and Bismark Deku.

 

Italian Naples-based Gallery, Shazar Gallery founded by Giuseppe Compare in 2019. Compare’s passion and love for art is felt throughout the walls of the the gallery and his mission is to create an open environment to all that wants to exhibit. For 2024, Shazar Gallery presents a solo show by Iranian artist, Saghar Daeiri (residing in Istanbul, Turkey) titled “A Trilogy of Collapse”. The series will address society’s steady deterioration and its entropy through a desire for transformation, working through numerous techniques and mediums to create an individualised stylistic perspective. The gallery is known for the effort that they put into the intellectual research behind each artist that they work with as well as the exhibitions that they put on year round.

 

Suburbia Contemporary, based in Barcelona, Spain, will return to the 2024 fair with an incredible collection of South African artists showcasing a variety of talent and perspectives. It is a great pleasure to welcome them back as they have been great friends and supporters of Investec Cape Town Art Fair. Suburbia Contemporary, with satellite spaces in Florence and Cape Town, combines the talents of Amy Rusch (pieces using discarded/found plastic items on eco-consciousness), Ed Young (a series of ironic and poetic texts) and Jake Aikman (abstracted depictions of water scenes, transporting the viewer into an ethereal realm). Director Francesco Ozzola and artist Jake Aikman will kick off 2024’s fair with an annual surf.

 

Suburbia Contemporary as a long-time friend and supporter of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair will not only be featuring in our main section- but will host a pop-up exhibition as part of our Public Programme ‘Unbound City’.

 

 

While we shed light on the incredible international galleries of the Main and ALT sections of Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2024, the curated sections are filled with galleries spread across the road- offering their unique perspective and talented artists to the tailored themes of Tomorrows/ Today, GENERATIONS and SOLO.

 

TOMORROWS/ TODAY:

 

In Tomorrows/ Today, international galleries fill the walls- from Nigeria, to Spain to the United States, curator Mariella Franzoni has brought a stretch of galleries that extend from continent to continent. Bringing with them an array of talented artists, these international galleries include, Ana Mas Projects (Spain), Bode (Germany), C24 Gallery (United States), Galerie Alain Gutharc (France), Galerie Caroline O’Breen (Netherlands), No Man’s Gallery (Netherlands), Le Violon Bleu (Tunisia) and Reiner’s Contemporary Art (Spain).

 

Ana Mas Projects (Spain), founded in 2015 by Ana Mas Salse, will present the works of Rita Sala Trieg (Barcelona).

 

C24 Gallery (United States), founded in 2011 by Emre and Maide Kurttepeli and Mel Dogan, will present the works of Gabe BC (United States).

 

Galerie Alain Gutharc (France) founded in 2006 by Alain Gutharc and will present the works of Edi Dubien (France).

 

Galerie Caroline O’Breen (Netherlands), founded in 2009 by Caroline O’Breen, will present the works of Manjot Kaur (India).

 

Galerie EIGEN + ART (Germany), founded in 1983 by Gerd Harry Lybke, will present the work of Natalie Paneng (South Africa).

 

Le Violon Bleu (Tunisia), founded in 2004 by Essia Hamdi, will present the work of Marc Herrero (Spain).

 

No Man’s Gallery (Netherlands), founded in 2010 by Lih-Lan Wong and Emmelie Koster, will present the works of Maria Sosa (Mexico).

 

Reiners Contemporary Art (Spain), founded in 2019 by Flor Reiners, will present the works of Finok Sagarra (Brazil).

 

 

GENERATIONS:

 

In our new curated section co-curated by Natasha Becker and Amogelang Maledu, dedicated to intergenerational conversation between emerging and established artists, three international galleries join this dialogue alongside local galleries.

 

Jonathan Carver Moore (United States), founded in 2022 by Jonathan Carver Moore, will present the works of Lulu Mhlana (South Africa)

 

In conversation with Lulu Mhlana, Ora Loapi (Botswana), founded in 2019 by Lerato Motshwarakgole, will present the works of Sedireng Mothibatsela (Botswana).

 

Rele Gallery (Nigeria/ United States) the first African gallery to open a space in the United States, founded in 2015 by Adenrele Sonariwo, will present the works of Ayobami Ogungbe (Nigeria) who will be in conversation with Kimathi Mafafo (South Africa), represented by EBONY/CURATED (South Africa).

 

SOLO:

 

First Floor Gallery Harare (Zimbabwe) will present the works of Helen Teede (Zimbabwe).

 

The Investec Cape Town Art Fair eagerly anticipates the arrival of all international galleries- both returning and new- at the meeting point for discovery and connection within the international contemporary art market.