N.E.O.

Mbumba Bwiti (Reliquary Guardian Bust)

By: Adenike Cosgrove

The Tsogho (or Mitsogo) of Gabon largely adhere to the spiritual discipline Bwiti, also popular among the forest-dwelling Punu, Fang and Kota. It is recognised as one of the three official religions of Gabon.

Central to this spiritual belief is a spirit known as bwete that acts as a mediator between the divine and those who practice Bwiti. Bwete first reveals itself to believers during initiation ceremonies. Over time, initiates learn the bwete’s sacred language so they can communicate directly with one another. In learning the ways of Bwiti, the Tsogho seek to further their understanding of human nature, our place in the universe and the possibility of spiritual transcendence.

Another key part of the Bwiti religion is mombe — ancestor worship. As part of this process, the Tsogho create wooden busts for placement in a mbumba Bwiti, a sack usually made from antelope skin. These sacks may also be filled with bones, jewellery, grain, shells, and coins. The wooden figures are created in the image of the Tsogho ancestors to act as guardians of the living. They are often used during nocturnal rituals.

Today, these Tsogho half-figures are incredibly rare and much coveted.

Distinguishing Features:

Prominent ears with wide helices

Large, rounded head

Convex forehead

Strong, large, arching brows

Metal attachments often serve as eyes

Eyes occasionally inlaid with pupils of varying colour

Vertical band of black paint or metal bisects forehead

Small, flat, and triangular nose

Oval, half-open mouth

Columnar neck

Rounded shoulders

Small torso, terminating at waist

Arms held to the body with elbows bent

Sometimes depicted with hands grasping a jug

Otherwise carved with clenched fists held tightly against the abdomen

Others still have forearms extend across flat chest and meet figure's centre

Body coloured with red camwood powder

White kaolin applied in recesses of mouth

Sonia Delaunay

Sa vie, son œuvre 1885-1979

Stanley Baron

Jacques Damase éditeur, Paris 1995, 208 pages

euro 40,00*

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“ Pendant plus de soixante-dix ans, Sonia Delaunay étonne Paris et le monde entier. Son voyage traverse le siècle. En 1906, elle se fixe à Paris venant de Russie, et s'identifie à la plus formidable révolution artistique de l'histoire. Par sa peinture, par ses créations, elle est de ceux qui ont façonné la sensibilité de notre temps. Jusqu'à 94 ans, elle raconte cette prodigieuse épopée, en compagnie des plus grands, avec humour, avec drôlerie, avec l'étonnement de l'éternelle jeunesse. Son histoire a l'éclat de ses grandes compositions: les couleurs de la vie. (…) Cet ouvrage tente aussi de capturer le phénomène Sonia, une femme et une artiste dont la vie et les multiples recherches comblent le XXème siècle. On est étonné de voir avec quel bonheur constant, Sonia Delaunay exerce son génie aussi bien dans les peintures monumentales que dans les gouaches confidentielles, ou encore dans les arts appliqués, créant avec le même bonheur: costumes de ballets, manteaux ou tissus, livres illustrés ou reliures, tapisseries et tapis, porcelaines, voitures et même jeux de cartes. ” Magnifique iconographie : 203 photographies, documents, œuvres… - in-texte et à pleine page - dont 113 reproductions en couleurs tirées sur papier semi-brillant. Parmi les clichés, deux sont signés Germaine Krull et André Morain Outre Robert Delaunay, son mari, l'on reconnaîtra parmi les amis de l'artiste Blaise Cendrars, Boris Kochno, Igor Stravinsky, Diaghilev, Piet Mondrian, Jean Arp, Fernand Léger, Tristan Tzara...

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Kifwebe mask, Songye, Democratic Republic of Congo c:a 1930

Artist Spotlight: Heitor dos Prazeres

Rio de Janeiro/RJ, 1898-1966

Heitor dos Prazeres was an Afro-Brazilian singer, songwriter and painter. Born to a family of musicians, his father, Alexandre dos Prazeres played clarinet for the Brazilian National Guard. His uncle, Hilario Jovino was a composer and presented him with the cavaquinho (an instrument of Samba music) inspiring him to compose his first songs. By the 1920s dos Prazeres become a pioneer of samba in Rio, standing out as one of the most famous composers of the Carioca Carnaval.

In 1936, at the age of 38, after the passing of his wife, dos Prazeres dedicated himself to painting. His portraits depicted the life and effervescent culture of Rio’s favelas in his time. He painted samba jam sessions (rodas de samba), the life of the bohemian creatives, the black artists and people on the streets, children playing and the first homes the created - the favelas of Rio.

He became internationally recognized by the form in which he painted the figures, side by side with their eyes lateral. Transposing the figures with bright and brilliant colors, becoming a hero of the Afro-Brazilian creative movement.

Heitor dos Prazeres foi um cantor, compositor e pintor afro-brasileiro. Ele nasceu no Rio de Janeiro no dia 23 de setembro de 1898 e faleceu em 1966, aos 68 anos. Heitor era de uma família de músicos: o pai, Alexandre dos Prazeres, era marceneiro e clarinetista da banda da guarda Nacional, e seu tio, Hilário Jovino, era compositor e foi quem lhe apresentou o cavaquinho e o inspirou a compor as suas primeiras músicas. Já na década de 20, se destacava entre os famosos compositores do carnaval carioca, de maneira que se tornou um dos pioneiros do samba carioca.

No ano de 1936, com 38 anos, sua esposa morreu e ele começou, numa espécie de epifania artística, a se dedicar à pintura. O pintor Heitor dos Prazeres retratava a vida e a cultura efervescente das favelas cariocas na sua época. Pintava roda de samba, a vida boêmia e criativa das pessoas e artistas negros(as) nas ruas, pintava crianças brincando de soltar balões e pipas e as primeiras casas que formaram, o que é hoje, os morros do Rio de Janeiro.

Uma das principais características que fez suas obras serem reconhecidas com exposições numerosas no Brasil e no exterior foram os rostos das pessoas sempre pintados lateralmente com a cabeça e o olhar para o alto. Transpondo com cores brilhantes e alegres o heroísmo e a força criativa do negro brasileiro.  

#Artwork: Ethiopia, 1921

#Artist: Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

Information and images from @nmaahc - Born #OnThisDay [June 9] in 1877, Meta Vaux Warrick created art that drew heavily from Afrocentric themes. She was known primarily as a sculptor, but also wrote poetry and painted...

The exposition America’s Making ran for two weeks in 1921 in a New York City armory, intended to celebrate the contributions of the nation’s immigrants. W. E. B. Du Bois, the noted writer, philosopher, and editor, organized the “Americans of Negro Lineage” section of the exposition. He commissioned Fuller to create an artwork that would symbolize the musical and industrial contributions of African Americans to the development of the United States. Fuller, who had studied both in Paris and at the Pennsylvania Museum School of the Industrial Arts, opted to take a different conceptual direction with her allegorical sculpture Ethiopia (1921). Referring to African Americans, Fuller wrote, “Here was a group who had once made history and now after a long sleep was awaking, gradually unwinding the bandage of its mummied past and looking out on life again, expectant but unafraid and with at least a graceful gesture.” Created at the dawn of the Harlem Renaissance, Ethiopia is widely considered the first Pan-African American work of art...

Warrick’s work represented a new black identity that emerged during the Negro Renaissance. Follow the link in our bio to learn more. #HiddenHerstory #APeoplesJourney #ANationsStory

Image 1: 📸 Gift of the Fuller Family, Copyright Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

Image 2: 📸 Courtesy of Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

#MetaVauxWarrick #BlackArtists #Sculpture #BlackWomenArtists #BlackGirlArtGeeks

MORE INFO ABOUT META VAUX WARRICK FULLER:

Maison Sonia Delaunay

edited by Waleria Dorogova, Katia Baudin  with contributions by Norman Barrau-Gely, Emilie Hammen, Diane Muller-Tanquerey, Pascal Rousseau, Margarete Uhlirova, Margarete Zimmermann

Hatje Cantz Berlin, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2022, 232 pages,150 illustrations,  16.50 x 24.00 cm,  ISBN 978-3-7757-5379-1

euro 57,00

email if you want to buy [email protected]

Sonia Delaunay’s work appears today as fresh and relevant as ever. The modernist pioneer’s ingenious color patterns dissolved the boundaries between visual and applied art. She further developed her painterly experiments in fashion, fabric patterns, interior design, book and object art, merging geometric abstraction and the sculptural qualities of pure color. Maison Sonia Delaunay is dedicated to Sonia Delaunay as a mediator between artistic-philosophical design and the beauty of everyday life. It particularly focuses on new research into textiles, fashion, and interior design. Drawing on never-before-published sources, the publication examines her international collaborations with entrepreneurs and artists, and illuminates how she redefines the relationship between art and industry in the process to design for a visionary, modern life.

17/04/23

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Helicopter Tjungurrayi [aka Helicopter Joe Tjungurrayi] (Australian, 1947 - 2018)

Sunrise, 1913, Otto Dix