There is always something special about acquiring an art work after meeting the artist, all the more when this is someone as critically acclaimed and seminal as George Adéagbo. His work had a precursor role for African contemporary art as in 1999 he became the first artist from the continent to receive recognition from the Venice Biennale jury.
Adéagbo’s works offer a dialogue between Africa and the West, between the artist’s own biography and the places where his installations are being produced. Interpretations of Adéagbo’s work are multiple, from ontological questions to lighthearted humorous juxtapositions. One specific aspect that really attracted us to George’s work are the “vitrines” which act as self-contained installations, and which George Adéagbo also calls playfully the paintings of an artist who does not know how to draw.
The work in the collection, Vitrine 267, was part of George Adéagbo solo exhibition for his 80th birthday celebration in the Ernst Barlach Haus Museum in Hamburg. The title of the exhibition “À l’école de Ernest Barlach, le sculpteur” reflects Adéagbo perpetual quest for learning, which mirrors in a way the quest of the art lover to ever learn new things from art. Vitrine 267 also appealed to us because of its references to wanderlust, exploration, but also uprooting.
