Landing (again) | New York

Goodman Gallery New York presents Landing (again), a group presentation showcasing eight leading 20th and 21st century artists who have been instrumental in shaping the course of art history from the African continent and its diaspora. The artists include El Anatsui, William Kentridge, David Koloane, Atta Kwami, Sam Nhlengethwa, George Pemba, Gerard Sekoto, Carrie Mae Weems, and Sue Williamson. Presenting this group of pivotal artists from the African continent in New York continues to underscore the imperative for greater representation of artists from the Global South.

Carrie Mae Weems’ approach to image-making ranges from staged and serialised narrative photography to the appropriation and adaptation of archival and ethnographic imagery. The multimedia installation The In Between (2022–2023) pays homage to the life and work of the late Okwui Enwezor (1963-2019). Enwezor was a Nigerian curator, critic, poet, and educator. He was known for his rigorous and influential curatorial practice, which challenged institutions to be more inclusive of non-Western artists and histories. He was the first non-European curator of documenta in 2002 and the first African-born curator of the Venice Biennale in 2015. Before his passing, he was director of Haus der Kunst in Munich. Weems titled the installation The In Between, underscoring Enwezor's commitment to addressing the gaps in the art world as well as the widespread grief around his premature death. The ‘in between’ is a space of neither here nor there, between leaving and arriving, a point of departure with a destination imagined but unknown. It was in these lacunae that Enwezor sought to make cultural institutions and art canonical histories more inclusive and representative of non-western identities. Weems presents her own version of Enwezor's extensive collected works, comprising one hundred books he wrote or edited and  representing the magnitude of his contributions to curatorial and scholarly praxis.

With a career spanning five decades, El Anatsui (b. 1944, Ghana) is one of the most important contemporary artists today — awarded the prestigious Praemium Imperiale alongside Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat in 2017, as well as the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, the Venice Biennale’s highest honour, in 2015. He was also included in TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2023. Anatsui’s Hyundai Commission at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall was on view from October 2023 to April 2024. This work is touring across the globe, with the first stop at  Museum of Art Pudong (MAP), Shanghai under the title ‘After the Red Moon’. In 2019, ‘El Anatsui: Triumphant Scale’, a major career survey curated by Okwui Enwezor, opened at Haus der Kunst and travelled to Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Kunstmuseum Bern and Guggenheim Bilbao in 2020.

Anatsui, well-known for his large-scale sculptures composed of discarded materials, transforms these simple materials into complex assemblages that create distinctive visual impact. Anatsui’s use of these materials reflects his interest in reuse, transformation, and an intrinsic desire to connect to his continent while transcending the limitations of place. His work interrogates the history of colonialism and draws connections between consumption, waste and the environment. 

This presentation serves as an extension of Landing, first showcased by the New York gallery in November 2023 – January 2024. The Landing series by Goodman Galley will continue to further the dialogue around these influential figures and their enduring impact on the artistic landscape. This further aligns with the gallery’s efforts to reframe and expand art history.

William Kentridge (b.1955, South Africa) is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. Kentridge’s largest survey exhibition, first seen at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2022, was on view at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum until September this year. Kentridge premiered a new nine-episode video series SELF-PORTRAIT AS A COFFEE-POT - a site-specific installation curated by long-time collaborator and curator Carolyn Christov Bakargiev at the Arsenale Institute for Politics of Representation in Venice. This series is also streaming globally on MUBI. The artist’s latest production ‘The Great Yes, The Great No’ premiered at LUMA Arles earlier this year, and is currently embarking on a US debut tour.

This work is part of Kentridge’s larger ‘Arc/Procession’ series, each of which examines a section of a crowd. The composition implies continuation beyond the limits of the drawing - a slice of ‘thick time’, encompassing the near past, present and future. The curve also frustrates an attempt to view the entire composition at once, reproducing the fragmented experience of looking at or being part of a large crowd. 

Gerard Sekoto (b. 1913, South Africa - d. 1993, Paris, France) is regarded as one of the most influential painters in South African history and is considered a pioneer of black South African ‘modernism’. Largely overlooked during his lifetime, Sekoto is now acknowledged for the significance of his contribution to the arts, and is renowned for his exceptional depictions of the sociological circumstances and lived experiences of urban black South Africans during the apartheid era.

Sekoto arrived in Paris in 1947, seeking a life free from the confines of South Africa’s oppressive apartheid regime. Paris became more than just an escape—it was a stage where he could embrace his identity as an artist, unburdened by the racial barriers he had witnessed back home. Immersing himself in the city’s energy, Sekoto was drawn to the lively cafés and brasseries of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, spaces alive with creativity and conversation.

By the late 1950s, the echoes of Paris’s Bohemian heyday still resonated in the bustling cafés and smoky jazz bars; the district remained a hub for artists, writers, and intellectuals who carried forward the city’s spirit of rebellion and innovation. It was within this rich cultural landscape that Sekoto found both solace and inspiration.

Painted in 1959, ‘Le Café Parisien’ reflects this dynamic world. With his signature sensitivity, Sekoto captured the essence of café life, portraying figures either animated in conversation or lost in quiet reflection. The café, a recurring theme in Sekoto’s Parisian work, symbolises more than a meeting place—it becomes a microcosm of the city’s diversity and openness. Here, Sekoto was not just an observer but an active participant, translating his lived experiences into art that speaks to universal themes of community, solitude, and belonging.

George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba (b. 1912, Port Elizabeth, South Africa - d. 2001) holds a distinctive place in South African art, celebrated for his empathetic depictions of everyday people.

Painted in 1947, ‘Portrait of a Pensive Boy’ is an early by the artist and work shows his growing mastery of social realism, capturing a moment of deep introspection with both technical skill and emotional depth. Created as Pemba prepared for his first solo exhibition in 1948, this painting is a rare example of his early style, transforming ordinary scenes into profound reflections on the human condition.

The central figure is a young boy, resting his face on his hand with a pensive expression. The modest township backdrop anchors him in a familiar environment. Pemba’s skillful oil technique gives the boy’s skin a tactile quality, emphasising the quiet tension in his pose. Details such as his furrowed brow and subtle curve of his lips evoke longing and quiet resignation, while his slumped posture imparts a sombre maturity beyond his years.

With this painting, Pemba not only immortalises a moment but also challenges the viewer to engage with the emotional and social undercurrents of his world. It is a work that transcends its time, offering a reflection on the resilience and dignity of the human spirit.

Sam Nhlengethwa (1955, South Africa) is part of a pioneering generation of late 20th century South African artists whose work reflects the sociopolitical history and everyday life of their country. Through his paintings, collages and prints Nhlengethwa has depicted the evolution of Johannesburg through street life, interiors, jazz musicians and fashion. His oeuvre, approach to artmaking and involvement in institutions such as Bag Factory Artist Studios has contributed greatly to the South African arts landscape, making him one of the country’s seminal artists. 

In the 1980s Nhlengethwa first began to experiment with colour and non-figurative forms following his inclusion in The Triangle International Artists’ Workshop in New York (1983) and the Thupelo Art Project workshops, first initiated in 1985. Work of this period displayed his natural and intuitive sense of formal elements of colour and composition. ‘The Mural Painting Under Process’ follows this introduction of non-figurative forms into the artist’s practice. 

Sue Williamson (b. 1941, Lichfield, UK) is one of South Africa’s most important contemporary artists. In the 1970s, Williamson started to make work which addressed social change and by the late 1980s she was well known for her series of portraits of women involved in the country’s political struggle, titled ‘A Few South Africans’

Made during a time when South Africa was still firmly under the grip of apartheid, ‘A Few South Africans’ originated as a series that attempted to make visible the history of women who had made an impact on the struggle for liberation. The ‘Few’ in the title referred to the fact that the subjects of the portraits represented a small number of the many thousands of women who were involved in this struggle. In those years, news and photographs of these leaders never appeared in the white dominated press, so little was known about them. For her series, the artist herself took many of the portrait photos on which the photo-etchings are based and others were sourced from banned books in university libraries. Williamson placed her subject, who often gazes directly at the viewer, in the centre of the image, a centrality designed to give each woman the status of a heroine. Behind the women, details of their lives form a rich background landscape. Technically, the central image in each work is a photo-etching with other etching techniques added. The colourful frames are screenprinted on separate sheets of paper and collaged over the etched images, along with layers of coloured borders cut into zig zags. The frames, with their additional smaller images added in, extend the histories of each woman. 

The timing of this presentation coincides with growing international recognition by institutions of these artists as essential voices within the discourse of what is now referred to as global modernism(s). Their work is featured in prestigious collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Modern in London.

Goodman Gallery’s London space will feature a viewing room presentation concurrently with New York, creating a narrative across the two spaces. The artists showcased include Leonardo Drew, David Goldblatt, William Kentridge, Sydney Kumalo, Gerard Sekoto, Zineb Sedira, and Carrie Mae Weems.