A Stand-Out Booth at 1-54 London
Opening its doors at London’s Somerset House last Thursday, the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair debuted its 11th London edition—the most ambitious to date. Championing diverse perspectives and experiences from the African continent and the diaspora, it brought together 62 exhibitors from 32 different countries, showcasing the works of 170 different artists, spanning painting, photography, film, sculpture, installation, and mixed media.
Josué Comoe, “La mélodie profane,” 2023, Ink oil and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 163 x 123 cm; part of “La Mystique du Corps” with Sitor Senghor at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, courtesy of Sitor Senghor.
Best of 1-54 London: Artist Josué Comoe at (S)ITOR
Out of the myriad of noteworthy booths and works on display, we felt one in particular deserved our undivided attention, the booth of (S)ITOR gallery and their question-probing display of paintings from the Paris-based multidisciplinary artist Josué Comoe entitled, “La Mystique du Corps.”
As the name implies, the works emitted something rather mystical, otherworldly, and spiritual. There was something emanating not solely from the religious positions of the bodies, or the religious temples in which the artist places them. The sheen and saturated depth of the deep brown tint the artist paints the background of his canvases with—like the earth one finds 12 feet under the ground—when juxtaposed with white outlines and vapour-like reflections evoke a ghost-like spirituality of something we don’t quite understand. Transcendentally, the works seem to radiate from within, giving a glowing, bronze-tinted dimension to the paintings that make up the artist’s own visual language.
Josué Comoe, “Cosmogonie,” 2023,
Ink oil and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 190 x 130 cm; part of “La Mystique du Corps” with Sitor Senghor at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, courtesy of Sitor Senghor.
Present amongst Comoe’s works, we found the artist enunciating them to curious passers-by, allowing us to talk to him about his practice and how his series came about. Created during a six month residence at the Fondation Donwahi in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, his series attempts to express the following question: How does it feel when the body that one is confined to begins to ask questions? It became particularly poignant to him as he returned to his home after 10 years of estrangement. Using a technique that requires considerable physical effort, he engages his whole body in what he calls a “hand-to-hand combat with canvas and paper,” in order to produce “a state of tension close to the ecstatic possession followed by release.”
Josué Comoe, installation view, “La Mystique du Corps,” with Sitor Senghor at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, courtesy of Sitor Senghor.
Josué Comoe’s “La Mystique du Corps” at 1-54 London
Representing the body as the site of mystical experience, “La Mystique du Corps” is the corporeal experience that blurs the boundary between inside and outside. Recounting both the inner and outer exiles, Comoe invites us to navigate the experiences that can become so imposing that we become strangers to ourselves, or rather disappear with a simple change of viewpoint. Playing with scale, the encounter between the figurative and the abstract, light and dark, and the alchemic meeting of Comoe’s different inks, in his attempt to render the body “in all its states,” encourage its introspection as the starting point of the creative act.
Josué Comoe, installation view, “La Mystique du Corps,” with Sitor Senghor at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, courtesy of Sitor Senghor.
