If you take a look at the art world, it’s glaringly obvious that it’s a space that has been, and continues to be, dominated by men. When it comes to visibility, championing visionaries and declaring the ‘next big thing’, male artists take precedent over their female contemporaries.
Excluding women from the art canon makes for a boring and quite frankly, uninspiring art landscape. Thankfully, the last few years have seen a shift in the space, with more female artists emerging on the scene.
To celebrate Women’s Month, SABO Art and Amar Singh Gallery present I Am Not A Goddess…Unless I Say I Am, a group exhibition featuring eleven African female artists: Anne Adams, Bunmi Agusto, Fadekemi Ogunsanya, Layo Bright, Manyaku Mashilo, Nola Ayoola, Osaru Obaseki, Peju Alatise, Shannon Bono, Tobi Alexandra Falade and Yagazie Emezi.
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The exhibition will be both virtual and physical, taking place at Alliance Française in Lagos, Nigeria between March 16th – March 28th, 2021.
I Am Not A Goddess… Unless I Say I Am challenges the romanticization of women using the ‘goddess trope’. When women are described as ‘goddesses’ it stems from society’s need to view and influence our perception that women have intrinsic values that are ‘more than’. The 11 artists in this exhibition offer their own interpretations of this trope through a range of different mediums, exploring the depth, range and expansiveness of womanhood. Cutting through age, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation and religion, the figures highlighted in I Am Not A Goddess… Unless I Say I Am are diverse.
From re-imaginations of historic bronze sculptures from the Benin Kingdom, which were predominantly of male figures, to an artist’s impression of iconic family photographs which tell stories of heritage and trans-nationality, expect to see a range of women and the nuances and multidimensionality of their existences.
SABO Art was founded by Sosa Omorogbe & Aziza Balogun. SABO Art is an art advisory and curatorial firm specialising in modern and contemporary art of Africa and its diaspora.
Amar Singh Gallery was founded by human rights activist Amar Singh to champion historically overlooked and important female artists. The gallery has exhibited the work of the Guerilla Girls, Helen Frankenthaler and Renee Cox.
