1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair hosted its 2024 New York fair Edition at The Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea (255 11th Avenue) from Wednesday, May 1 to Saturday, May 4, 2024.
Held annually across three continents, in the major cities of London, New York and Marrakech, 1-54 is the leading global event series dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora.
Striving to showcase a community of diverse perspectives, including evolving interpretations of the diasporic experience, 1-54 features international galleries specializing in contemporary African art. This year’s fair spotlighted a total of 32 galleries spanning across Europe, Africa and the United States.
This year showcased a diverse selection of galleries from Lagos and Luasanne to Miami and London, including ten 1-54 participants who made their debut at the fair. This expansion underscores the fair’s commitment to showcasing the richness and diversity of contemporary African art on a global stage.
With over 8000 attendees over the course of the weekend, more than 30 galleries had successful sales, with several selling half of their respective works on view.
Celebrating its 10th edition, 1-54 New York took place at The Starrett-Lehigh Building for the first time – a 2.3 million-square-foot premier Manhattan property recognized as a creative campus for influential companies across fashion, entertainment, media, architecture, design and technology.
As an anchor of Manhattan’s West Side for nearly 100 years, the building serves as the professional and cultural hub within the Chelsea Arts District, which is known for its concentration of art galleries.
As the site of this year’s edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York City, The Starrett-Lehigh Building upholds its dedication to inspire, educate and engage the surrounding community.
“We had an incredible turnout this year for our largest New York Fair to date,” said Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director of 1-54. “Looking back on the last decade of 1-54, it’s incredible to see how much our fair has grown over the years.”
1-54 is dedicated to broadening global awareness about the art-historical significance of African modern and contemporary art. Since its first fair in London in 2013, 1-54 has presided over a massive shift in art world awareness and market interest in contemporary African and diasporic art practices, hosting panel events and providing an event calendar dedicated to the aesthetic richness of creative work emerging from the continent and its diaspora.
Partnerships
Now in its fifth consecutive year, 1-54’s continued partnership with Christie’s reflects the fair’s dynamic relationship with the global auction house. The collaboration also demonstrates Christie’s commitment to showcasing contemporary African art to its global client base and enhancing exposure for the fair internationally. Most recently, 1-54 Presents debuted its first presentation in Asia in collaboration with Christie’s at their offices in Hong Kong in March of this year, in tandem with Art Basel. 1-54 Presents at Christie’s Hong Kong marked a significant milestone in presenting African artists to new audiences.
INFINIMENT COTY PARIS exhibited its fragrance collection at 1-54 Art Fair as part of the long-term commitment to empower emerging African artists. In Partnership with the renowned 1-54 Art Fair, INFINIMENT COTY PARIS invited visitors to indulge in an unprecedented artistic and olfactive experience at the INFINIMENT COTY PARIS gallery. The luxury fragrance collection is created with art cycling in mind. Infinitely stackable, each fragrance bottle is made to be stacked and assembled with the next, transforming into a medium of artistic expression.
A canvas in glass, it is akin to a new territory of expression where art and fragrance are united through the language of emotion and creation. INFINIMENT COTY PARIS commissioned artists to create pieces inspired by the fragrance stories.
Co-founders Sue Nabi and Nicolas Vu are committed to creating a platform for creative collaboration with emerging artists who share their values.
As Nicolas Vu aptly puts it, “Art gives soul to luxury.”
New artworks created freely out of bottles are revealed in avant-premiere at each edition of 1-54, including the New York City fair.
Special Projects
In continuation of its standing Special Projects partnership with the fair, Black Rock Global Arts Foundation had a booth presenting works from the alumni at each edition of 1-54 in London, Marrakech and New York. A portion of proceeds go directly towards benefiting Black Rock’s mission to support artists and expand global discourse about what Africa means today.
For the 2024 New York edition, this exhibition featured works by Grace Lynne Haynes (Year 1, Painter), Tajh Rust (Year 1, Painter), and Collins Obijiaku (Year 2, Painter). Their work explores the possibilities of portraiture, presenting three different approaches to capturing one’s likeness.
About 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Founded by Touria El Glaoui in 2013, 1-54 is the first and only international fair dedicated to contemporary African art. With three editions per year—in London, New York and Marrakech—as well as an annual pop-up fair in Paris, 1-54 is the leading global event series dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Striving to promote a community of diverse perspectives, including evolving interpretations of the diasporic experience, 1-54 features leading international galleries specializing in contemporary African art alongside artists talks, panel discussions and a Special Projects programme. The fair’s name draws reference to the fifty-four countries that constitute the African continent.
About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business with a physical presence in 46 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. Renowned and trusted for our expert live and online-only auctions, as well as bespoke Private Sales, Christie’s unparalleled network of specialists offers our clients a full portfolio of global services, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $500 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 7 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction, launched the first fully on-chain auction platform dedicated to exceptional NFT art and manages an investment fund to support innovative startups in the art market. Christie’s is also committed to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide.
About Infiniment Coty Paris
In 1904, Coty invented modern perfumery through a revolutionary approach to raw materials, natural and synthetic ingredients blended together. Coty creations quickly rose to the status of icon, some inspiring well-known, modern-day olfactory families and sub-families, including the chypre family, taken from Coty’s emblematic 1917 fragrance of the same name, “Le Chypre.”
As the parent brand of modern perfumery, Coty wrote the codes of what fragrance means today. Its bottles are not mere containers, but objects of beauty in their own right. Its fragrances are rooted in Paris but celebrate Coty’s creativity across the globe.
To mark Coty’s 120th anniversary, INFINIMENT COTY PARIS is perpetuating this heritage with the next generation of fragrances whose longevity and scents are augmented by science, aspiring to define new codes for the perfumery of tomorrow.
Behind the brand, two creators – Sue Nabi and Nicolas Vu – who share a passion for the world of beauty and love nothing more than to push limits, invent, surprise, entice and persuade by revealing the emotions and scents of their respective life stories.
Born in Africa, Sue is passionate about all aspects of science, she has an optimistic spirit, and an ambition to create a “desirable future.” At her side is Nicolas, born in Asia, steeped in urban culture, and always placing the socio-cultural dimension at the core of his creative mindset.
True emissaries, the two have combined their savoir-faire and convictions into a collection of 14 creations, devised as the manifesto for a new dawn of perfumery.
There is nothing ostentatious here, the bare essentials, the quintessence of fragrance in all its emotion, right down to the molecular level. This approach is conceived around four complementary guiding principles: scientific innovation to serve longevity and scent, sustainability through reusable packaging, concentrated formulas free of unnecessary chemicals, and a creative echo to all forms of art.
Photos by Casey Kelbaugh & Parker Calvert / CKA
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