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1-54 presents special projects for Marrakech 2019

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair partners with institutions at the forefront of Moroccan art scene for Marrakech Special Projects programme 

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, has announced the programme of special projects for its second Marrakech edition, taking place at La Mamounia, 23 – 24 February 2019, with VIP and Press Previews on 21 and 22 February. 

Renowned American artist Brice Marden’s inaugural solo exhibition in Marrakech at Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech 

The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech will present the first exhibition of renowned American artist Brice Marden in Marrakech, a city he discovered many years ago and one in which he continues to regularly visit and work in. Since beginning his career in the 1960s, Marden has continuously refined and extended the traditions of lyrical abstraction. 

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Brice Marden, Helen’s Moroccan Painting, 1979

Experimenting with self-imposed rules, limits, and processes, and drawing inspiration from extensive travels, Marden combines the diagrammatic formulas of Minimalism, the immediacy of Abstract Expressionism, and the intuitive gesture of calligraphy in his exploration of gesture, line and colour. This exhibition brings together more than 60 works, including several never-before-seen pieces produced in Morocco. 

New site-specific commission by Beirut-based artist Amine El Gotaibi at Dar Moulay Ali 

Commissioned by L’Institut Français de Marrakech, Perspective de séduction will be a new site-specific installation by Beirut-based artist Amine El Gotaibi, which will take place across the patio of Dar Moulay Ali. Building on the artist’s series of drawings, Perspective de brebis, this new installation addresses the hierarchical relationship between man and animals, and man and power. In this work, El Gotaibi explores the dynamic of domination/persuasion and training/domestication as a game of seduction: pursued without violence but with the aim to restrict someone existence. In this work, El Gotaibi attempts to free a herd of sheep, which he sees as symbols of the masses and quintessential submission. 

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Amine El Gotaibi ©Laila Hida

Sound installation exploring immigration and post-colonialism by Emeka Ogboh at DADA 

To coincide with 1-54 Marrakech, DADA will launch a new exhibition space dedicated to contemporary practices and will present an installation by the Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh, LOS – RAK.

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Emeka Ogboh, Àlà, 2014, video Installation (4 min). Courtesy of the artist

Combining sound compositions created from recordings captured in the Marrakech Médina with his Lagos Soundscapes project – an online, live sound streaming from Lagos – the installation develops the artist’s investigation into the history and aural infrastructures of cities. The exhibition presents sounds and visuals from the urban environment, demonstrating Ogboh’s interest in cities as critical places of neoliberal modernity and how sound can capture existential relations, frame our comprehension of the world, and provide a context in which to pose critical questions about immigration, globalisation and post-colonialism. 

A group show featuring exciting artists working in Africa at Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) 

Material Insanity at Museum of Contemporary African Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) will showcase some of the most exciting artists currently working on the continent and its diaspora. The group exhibition questions the usefulness of material things and their inherent symbolic value, highlighting the transformative power of art within consumer societies. From tactile objects, tapestries and installations composed of industrial materials, the works in the exhibition strike a balance between form and meaning, emphasizing the importance of the medium itself. This can be seen in works by Fatiha Zemmouri (Morocco), Clay Apenouvon (Togo/ France), Ibrahim Mahama (Ghana) and Bronwyn Katz (South Africa). Works by Nari Ward (US/ Jamaica), Beya Gille Gacha (Cameroon), Frances Goodman (South Africa) and Amina Agueznay (Morocco) examine the multiplicity of contemporary identities with reference to issues such as migration, societal expectations and traditions which, when brought together, expose the traces of each individual journey and history. 

Solo exhibition of Saâd Ben Cheffaj, pioneer of the Moroccan modernism school at Salon de Thé, La Mamounia 

For the duration of the fair, L’Atelier 21 will present a selection of works by Moroccan artist Saâd Ben Cheffaj, one of the founders of modern painting in Morocco, in the Salon de Thé at La Mamounia.

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“L’artiste Apelle peignant Campaspe, l’amante d’Alexandre le Grand” Oil on canvas 180 x 380 cm 2015, © Courtesy Saâd Ben Cheffaj and Atelier 21 Gallery

Born in 1939 in Tétouan, Cheffaj is one of the first Moroccan artists to have received academic training. Following his studies in 1957 at the l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Séville, he went on to pursue History of Art at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. He was later awarded a Professor diploma, in 1962, from the Ecole of Beaux-Arts Santa Isabel de Hungaria de Séville, before returning to Morocco to teach History of Art, drawing and painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Tétouan. Cheffaj’s painting continues to encompass multiple movements (figuration, expressionism, neorealism and abstraction), while retaining the creative energy that characterises his works. 

Work by five artists from Côte d’Ivoire at Montresso* Art Foundation 

Montresso* Art Foundation, an artist residency and art space based in Marrakech, will present its second edition of IN-DISCIPLINE, an itinerant support programme dedicated to creation and diffusion. IN-DISCIPLINE #2 will showcase the work of five artists from Côte d’Ivoire: Gopal Dagnogo, Joachim Silue, Pascal Konan, Armand Boua and Yeanzi, who will each respond to the notion of ‘Indiscipline’: to leave the discipline, to enter the discipline, to surpass one’s discipline, to confront the other mediums and to create a new aesthetic. 

Two exhibitions African Poetries and Hybridizations presented by Comptoir des Mines Galerie 

Comptoir des Mines Galerie will present two projects, African Poetries and Hybridizations, across two locations in the city. African Poetries will bring together a selection of artists within the exhibition spaces of Comptoir des Mines Galerie’s contemporary art centre. Hybridizations will take place in Marrakech’s historical main square and market place, Jemaa el-Fna, wherein participating artists will be invited to create a dialogue and new common history through creating works that relate to local traditions. Hybridizations also pays tribute to the Jemaa el-Fna Manifesto, a major artistic event that took place in the 1970s. 

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About 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair 
With annual editions in London, New York and Marrakech, 1-54 is the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Drawing reference to the fifty-four countries that constitute the African continent, 1-54 is a sustainable and dynamic platform that is engaged in contemporary dialogue and exchange. 

Initiated by Touria El Glaoui in 2013, the fair celebrated its sixth consecutive edition in London’s Somerset House in October 2018 and will return to New York for its fifth edition in May 2019, moving to the West Village’s Industria. The fair was launched in Marrakech, Morocco, in February 2018. 

About 1-54 FORUM 
FORUM, 1-54’s programme of talks, explores convergences across artistic and cultural production, critical thinking and ideas. 1-54 FORUM at Marrakech 2019 will be curated for the first time by art historian and curator Karima Boudou and will take the life and work of African American Surrealist, painter, jazz musician and poet Ted Joans (1928-2003) as its point of departure. 

About Karima Boudou 
Karima Boudou is an art historian and curator. She grew up in France and lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Since 2013, she has conducted research projects, exhibitions and publications in both Morocco and Europe. She has lectured about writers such as Jean Genet and Mohamed Leftah in the Moroccan context, and artists such as Danh Vo, Dave McKenzie, Mohssin Harraki and David Hammons. Her texts have been in catalogues (Mu.ZEE, Ostend, BE; Le Cube, Rabat, MA) and in magazines (Ibraaz, rekto:verso, Mousse, Africanah).

Recently, she was a Research Fellow at MAC VAL Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, and co-curated two exhibitions at Mu.ZEE, Ostend in June 2018: Tiwtmin timazighin and Chant des champs / Field song, a solo exhibition of M’barek Bouhchichi. Boudou is part of the curatorial team of the 1st Rotterdam Triennial (May 2020, Rotterdam Zuid). 

About La Mamounia 
Since 1923, La Mamounia has welcomed travellers from all over the world. The history of the establishment stretches as far back as the 12th century, when it stood protected behind the medieval ramparts of Marrakech. The hotel is inseparably attached to its magnificent gardens, which were gifted to Prince Al Mamoun as a wedding present in the 18th century. The passing centuries have brought ever more culture, refinement and know-how to the hotel. La Mamounia carries with it this prestigious past and its Arabic-Andalusian culture, rich with splendid colours, shapes and materials, which it nurtures and celebrates. 

Public opening hours 
Saturday 23 February, 12:00 – 20:00 Sunday 24 February, 12:00 – 18:00 
Press preview 
Thursday 21 February, 14:00 – 18:00 
VIP preview 
Thursday 21 February, 14:00 – 18:00 Friday 22 February, 10:30 – 18:00 
Social media 
Website: 1-54.com
Twitter: @154artfair
Instagram: @154artfair
Facebook: 154ContemporaryAfricanArtFair 
#154artfair 

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