African Art & Architecture Book Recommendation?

November 12, 2019 10:05 AM

I have to have a LOT of conversations about and around African Art, Fashion, Design, & Aesthetics. Are there any art books on these subjects you’d recommend?

That’s it really. I would like large-format (coffee table/monograph-type) art, fashion, and architecture books that give you images with essays or commentary around it. I am not looking for National Geographic-style stuff, but rather contemporary books written about contemporary people, or perhaps contemporary books written by African artists, designers, architects, or museums.

I can find a ton of images online and am connected to a bunch of individuals, but there is something about having a bookshelf of inspiration and information for people when they are in my workroom working or when I’m having conversations about appropriation, adaptation, use, and/or anything else related.

Especially helpful kinds of subjects:
Afro-futurism in Fashion and Design
Fashion retrospectives from West African designers specifically
African roots and/or inspiration in other art and fashion movements (e.g. Art Deco)
Retrospectives of specific designers and artists
Anything related to commentary on the relationship of fashion and design in an African context

Thanks! If I can round out some materials up here it will make it so much more interesting than the same old Dior, Halston, and Mainbocher coffee table books.

posted by Tchad to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (4 answers total)

African Nomadic Architecture is full of glorious textile working art.
posted by clew at 12:26 PM on November 12, 2019

The work of Sammy Baloji and Filip De Boeck, and of Ann Cassiman might fit some of what you're looking for.
There's also Afropolis, the English version of the catalogue for the 2010-2011 exhibition of the same name in Cologne's Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum.
posted by pendrift at 1:18 PM on November 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I really like this look at the work of Betye Saar, and there are several other collections of her work available... You might want to pick up some on Kara Walker as well.
posted by TwoStride at 10:01 PM on November 12, 2019

Best answer: Other suggestions:
David Adjaye's Geo-Graphics
Exhibition catalogue Fetish Modernity
The 1937 book The Savage Hits Back by Julius Lips (recently republished IIRC)
Omo - People and Design
Le Congo et l'Art Belge with a chapter on art deco, modernism, and world expos (in French and Dutch only)
Dakar's MCN would probably have a lot of suggestions as well, if you have contacts there.

Feel free to memail me if you have questions!
posted by pendrift at 2:43 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]