Afikaris
1-54 Marrakech 2020

For its first participation in the 1-54 Marrakech fair, from February 22 to 23, Afikaris is pleased to present a solo show by Cameroonian artist Jean David Nkot.

What are the impacts of violence, indifference and passivity on the part of the international community and governments on migration victims around the world? The artist Jean David Nkot materializes this questioning by exploring the pictorial register of the body and the territory. Thus, figures and silhouettes stand out from what seems to be the plan of a city. These giant postage stamps - bordering on abstraction - make up the bulk of his creations. They question and shake consciences by exploring and exposing faces submerged by symbolized inscriptions of the uprooting pain. In his new series "The Shadows of Space", which will be presented for the first time at the fair 1-54 Marrakech, Jean David Nkot specifically points out identity troubles related to exile, putting human condition at the heart of its reflection. He studies the issues that may exist between the body and space in a socio-cultural context torn by silence and terror, and offers society a space for reflection and dialogue on certain everyday realities. The map, the body, the face, the routes / circuits and the everyday objects present in his works are metaphors for talking about the state of a society weakened by dread and the desire for control.

Paintings scattered on the walls, starting from an epi-center to isolation, the scenography of the stand of the Afikaris gallery reflects the notion of diaspora and dispersion within a territory.
With reference to the fifty-four countries that make up the African continent, 1-54 aims to be "a sustainable and dynamic platform engaged in contemporary dialogue and exchange." Thus, Jean David Nkot, making his subjects the allegory of contemporary African history, perfectly embodies the ambition of the fair to highlight the richness of the contemporary African artistic scene and to create a dialogue.