African Artists

Discover contemporary African artists. Our extensive online collection showcases work from African painters, photographers and print-makers, making it easy for you to discover new art.

Begin your journey with the graphic prints of South African artist, Gerhard Human. Gerhard’s artworks are reflections and contemplations on human nature. He fills post-apocalyptic settings with isolated figures, and together with his refined palette, creates surreal imaginings of a parallel universe.

On the other hand, Kirsten Lilford captures expressive snapshots of the everyday. Kirsten’s distinctive style is one that exposes contrast and through her use of composition and detail, creates sinister scenes of stillness. Kirsten’s mastery of oils allows her to combine a refined, rich and detailed technique with abstract washes of colour.

Lebohang Kganye’s prints and photographs explore the complexities and contractions of family history. She constructs each piece with a performative element, highlighting the lack of clarity in history. Reenacting the past, Lebohang includes herself in past narratives to address the subjective nature of memory and nostalgia. Lebohang is established internationally, and has recently held exhibitions in South Africa, the US and Portugal, as well as winning the ‘Sasol New Signatures’ award and the ‘CAP Prize’.

About African Artists

African art is famously inter-disciplinary, spanning from pottery, sculpture and jewellery to painting, textiles and decoration. Today, artists take influence from the rich colours, intricate patterns and bold shapes of traditional African art. In recent years, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dakar, Lagos and Marrakech have been hailed as the six emerging art capitals of Africa. Slowly but surely cities in Africa are emerging as hubs of artists and collectors.

The presence of African art in Europe during the early 1900’s had a vast influence on avant-garde artists. Everyone from Picasso to Matisse studied African sculpture to form a stylised representation of the human body. Whilst post-Impressionist painters were influenced by the flattening of depth, Cubist artists were inspired by the abstraction of the form. African art, particularly African masks were hugely instrumental in forming the faces and characters in Picasso’s seminal piece, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.