Figures of Power

AFIKARIS Gallery’s “Figures of Power” is a joint exhibition of the Senegalese artist Ousmane Niang and Nigerian artist John Madu, on view through August 14. In a selection of over 20 works, the artists center notions of power as they unravel surrounding ideas of political and gender dynamics. In Madu’s paintings, his subjects transcend the stigmas of their gender and status (like a pair of boxers hugging in the ring), painted in everyday scenarios with compositions that incorporate nods to artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Keith Haring. Simultaneously, Niang studies the embodiment of power through works that replace human subjects with animals—like the Jeu de Cartes painting that sees the royalty on a playing card replaced with birds in clothing.