Out of Africa

Roomscape reports on African Deco, a major trend emerging from this week’s Olympia International Fine Art & Antiques Fair.

African Deco is big in New York, home of the 1930’s Harlem Renaissance period of Jazz and Art.

Many famous artists of the 30’s, such as Picasso, used the stone sculptures of Zimbabwe to define an overall approach to art. Like then, African Deco is a return to true and honest art, directly in touch with the materials.

The combination of textures is well suited for today’s sophisticated monochrome theme. The use of traditional light and airy African wax fabrics along with exotic woods compliment the masculinity of the art. Subtle colours of blue, black sea foam and pink help to break away from the safari image such as the setting to the left by Christopher Jones .

African Deco works particularly well with the interesting forms and reflective surfaces of Deco inspired furniture of the 70`s & 80`s. Throughout the fair, pieces by Maison Jansen and Maison Charles were finished with African art such as Clive Loveless Primal Art to the left . Brass was often left unpolished, allowing the patina to add another texture.

African art is available across a range of prices and on a steady increase as Africa becomes a major economic player. African art when carefully curated such as that by Ted Wolter , creates a gentrified Deco setting . This trend is set to be big, making the eclectic look a little more sophisticated.