"Art Continent Africa", Sparkasse Fürth, Fürth, Bavaria, 10.06. – 30.07.2010

[Edward Chiwawa]    [Paa Joe]    [Twins Seven Seven (1944 – 2011)]

Fürther Nachrichten, 11.06.2010, MARION REINHARDT

World Champion in Imagination

Art-Agency Hammond devotes itself to "Art Continent Africa"

Parallel to the World Cup Art-Agency Hammond shows in the Sparkasse  fascinating paintings and sculptures from the "Art Continent Africa".

Born in 1944 in Nigeria, Prince Twins Seven Seven is one of the most colourful and best-known African artists - his work is represented at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and New York's MoMA, in 2005 he received the "UNESCO Artist for Peace" award. Just as colourful as himself are his in Fürth repeatedly shown pictures and wood carvings.

The artist has developed over the years a distinctive style. Every inch of his pictures is completely covered with ornamental looking linear drawings, which he fills in in any shade of colour. They are akin to the so called "dazzling pictures" on which endlessly many objects are to discover - mythical creatures, animals and people with strongly accented eyes. Each work tells a story. In his wooden reliefs Twins Seven Seven has also developed a independent technique, which gives the images depth.

Along with the paintings, the exhibition also shows stone sculptures by the Shona Sculptors from Zimbabwe that, especially in the 70's and 80's have been heavily in fashion. The serpentine-made, highly stylised heads, figures and animals send out a special haptic stimulation with their smooth surface and curved shapes.

The absolute eye catcher of the presentation in the bank, however, is an impressive sculpture in candy-pink, which turns out to be the coffin of a gynaecologist and emulates a uterus with ovaries. In Ghana, they have the tradition of customary made coffins with respect to the career or a special talent of the deceased. The coffins primarily were not seen as pure art, but as objects for real use, which are still manufactured and used. The coffin shown in Fürth is an individual product of the artist and coffin maker Paa Joe for gynaecologist Bernd Kleine-Gunk from Fürth. As well as the exhibited paintings and sculptures it is from his collection.

Kleine-Gunk was in the late 80s as a medical aid worker in Zimbabwe, where he made his first contact with African art. In his introduction on Wednesday evening, he pointed out the high quality of Shona sculptures from the first generation of artists, of which a large number is shown in the exhibition. All these artists are self-taught, as well as Prince Twins Seven-Seven.

Kleine-Gunk also explained the meaning of the artist’s strange name: The Nigerian comes from an area where the births of twins are particularly common. And so his mother also has born twins, however, seven times. They were all boys. His thirteen brothers died. Only Prince Twins Seven-Seven survived.