Clay Apenouvon's work in Mariane Ibrahim Gallery’s booth at Seattle Art Fair, 2015. Mariane Ibrahim.
At the Seattle Art Fair in the summer of 2016, the Togolese artist Clay Apenouvon wrapped the booth of Mariane Ibrahim, a local black-owned contemporary art space, in ripped-up black plastic bags. Inside this installation (entitled Film Noir, 2016) were partially visible works by the gallery’s artists of African descent, including photographs by the African-American self-portraitist Ayana V. Jackson.
“It was mostly about making visible what is invisible…that’s the discrimination that has resulted in the exclusion of Africans and African-Americans in the collections of museums and in the art market,” said Ibrahim, adding that visitors who asked to see behind the plastic bags were told “I won’t show you unless, you eventually buy.”
