South African, Sakhile Matlhare, is giving African artists and their narrative representation in Germany and Europe.
Artists from Africa and its diaspora have a new home in Frankfurt, German, and its name is Sakhile & Me. Sakhile & Me is an international exhibition and research space working with established and emerging contemporary artists, curators, critics and researchers.
Founded by Contemporary Art Gallerist and South African, Sakhile Matlhare and Daniel Hagemeier, the gallery promotes the work and development of artists and researchers by investing in solo and small group exhibitions, both on the African continent and abroad, art fair participation, partnerships with other galleries and art institutions, educational workshops and personalized tours of our space.
Sakhile & Me
Sakhile & Me is housed in a cultural heritage building and offers approximately 750 square feet of exhibition space in three rooms.
The gallery is committed to developing a strong art program that invests in the development of the artists and facilitates educational events that encourage audiences to come to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the artists’ work.
Nigerian Osi Audu’s Wetin Be Dis? is currently being exhibited. It started on 19 September and ends 26 October 2019.
Wetin Be Dis? is Nigerian Pidgin English for “What is this?” and in the exhibition, Audu develops a series of abstract geometric paintings and drawings to raise questions about the dual and oft-time multifaceted nature of “the self.”
Referencing both philosophy and neurology, he tugs at our understandings and perceptions of “self-identity.”
The paintings are brightly coloured and often shaped with an opening breaking the centre of the solid forms with the black-and-white drawings depicting similar geometric shapes but also more experimental variations including curvature and smaller repeating forms creating impressions of a starry night sky.
Education
Matlhare received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hamilton College, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Sydney and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University before deciding to trade in a life in the academy to open an exhibition and research space inspired by artists she met during her doctoral fieldwork.
Her first jobs working as a freelance muralist and a photo archivist for the Alumni office at her high school started her down a path where art-making became a viable platform and vehicle for learning, doing self-work and investigating the possibilities and limitations of studying, living and working abroad.
Hagemeier holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hamilton College and a Master of Digital Communication degree from the University of Sydney and has been working with his father at Kunsthandel Hagemeier, a gallery specializing in German Expressionist and Classical Modern art, since 2014.
Prior to his involvement in the art industry, Daniel worked as a self-taught web developer and graphic designer and as a freelance journalist.
