ST-ART was pleased to highlight 30 artists from the Africa First collection in honor of black history month, on Artsy.
It is no secret that the African auction market has softened markedly in the past 12-18 months as a result of 'figurative fatigue'. This show brings to the fore the maturity and originality of African artists working in multiple mediums- textile, metal, photography, painting, collage, readymade, etc... - with practically none categorizing as black figuartion. With the new Africa Basel fair taking place in parallel to Art Basel this summer (of which we are founding curatorial committee members), the forthcoming Venice biennale in 2026 to be curated by the Congolese curator Koyo Kouoh, and the Documenta in 2027 to be curated by American curator of African descent Naomi Beckwith, African art is sure to continue to gain momentum in the years ahead. Take a close look at this magnificent selection of works by artists we discovered, collected, and in some cases hosted on residency, long before their rise to prominence; a long standing trait of our collecting activity over the past 3+ decades.