Axis Gallery, NY & NJ

03/30/2026

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03/26/2026

03/26/2026

Enjoy our Axis newsletter for a moment of respite.
https://conta.cc/4lQrg2t

02/10/2026

Kongo Astronauts’ “Waiting for the Sun SPACEWALKER”, 2023, has taken up permanent residence at the Seattle Art Museum amidst Nick Cave’s “Soundsuits” and a “Caterpillar Suit” by Walter Oltmann. According to curator Pamela McClusky, The KA Spacewalker stops many visitors in their tracks, before they move on to Monet’s “Water Lilies”—equally radical for its time—awaiting attention.

Kongo Astronauts construct their “Spacewalkers” from discarded electronic circuits loaded with gold, cobalt, copper and coltan, originally sourced from the mines in DRC and dumped back there. These fantastical performance constructions, reappropriate this e-waste, which Western countries ship to various countries on the African continent rather than paying to recycle. Kongo Astronauts’ innovation raising questions about the crises of late capitalism and climate change, has inspired an urban movement in Kinshasa of artists reactivating discarded materials.

If you’re in Seattle, Waiting for the Sun will light up your visit as part of the reinstallation of their permanent collection.

02/10/2026

Taking in visual connections, global and temporal overlaps with

02/06/2026

Happening now a public screening and Q&A with artist and director Hervé Youmbi’s of “Visages de masques” a film highlighting hid conceptual project that delves into the creation of hybrid masks designed to enrich and expand the canon of ritual societies in West Cameroon and beyond. The film highlights the characters, the challenges, and the rich collaborations that make it possible to produce formally ambiguous masks that move fluidly between the global contemporary art scene and African ritual ceremonial contexts. It interrogates the impact of colonization on the production of ritual life and masking in Africa today, and stands in opposition to the clichés and categorizations that confine the reception of signs and meanings from Africa. This film that focuses on the multiple relationships that collaborations entail, and profiles rich accounts from experts in the visual arts sector about the layers of meaning, critique, and innovation embedded in Youmbi’s unique vision. A taste of what is to come later this month when New African Masquerades opens at the San AntonioMuseum of Art

12/19/2025

・・・
Gideon Mendel’s work made in the aftermath of the fires that devastated Los Angeles has just appeared in National Geographic Magazine , marking the memory of that horrific climate event as we near the first anniversaryin January. You can view the online version via the link in his bio.

“Huge thanks to all the amazing people I photographed for your trust in allowing me to document your situation in a moment of such trauma.

Thanks to the Center For Contemporary Documentation for the support that made this happen.

Thanks to Samantha Clark and the whole National Geographic team who worked on this.

Thanks to Katja Kulenkampff for the amazing logistical work to make this happen on the ground in Los Angeles.

“We’re the memory of the city. We hold it. We lived it. And we’re responsible for directing and shaping where it will go.”
— Staci Mitchell

“Everything is just for a little while. I can’t wait until we can look back on this as a distant memory—although there’s a lot of hard work between now and that time.”
— Jeff Randle

“It’s romantic to say, ‘Let’s make the best of this.’ Honestly, I don’t think we’ve had the luxury of that kind of perspective.”
— Barry Levine

12/11/2025

Fantastic opening last night of “Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and the Political Imagination” curated by the brilliant .onabanjo featuring the late Oumar Ka. Do not miss this show.

12/04/2025

Check out this link for Axis End of Year Focus featuring original Gifts and Winter News, 2025
📸 Oumar Ka (1930-2020)
Two Women with Thatched Roof House, 1959-68
Gelatin Silver Print
Image: 14” x 14” in. (35.56 x 35.56 cm)
Paper: 17” x 17” (43.2 x 43.2 cm)
Edition of 7 + 3 AP

https://conta.cc/4ov6UM5

10/29/2025

Exciting preview of the new Princeton Art Museum, with a guided tour of curator Perrin Lathrop’s inspired installation of African art, spotlighting the wealth of materials. Nice to see featured South African Basotho beaded works (acquired from Axis several years ago). Basotho art rarely features in museum displays. It’s an index of brave curatorial choices throughout the museum. Contemporary African art is mixed in throughout the exhibition halls rather than siloed. Visit! The new building, designed by Sir David Adjaye, is spectacular!