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National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution

Hell


Julie Mehretu b. 1970, Ethiopia Fragment 2009 Ink and acrylic on canvas 304.8 x 416.6 cm (120 x 164 in.) Collection of the artist, courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/London/ParisJulie Mehretu
b. 1970, Ethiopia
Fragment
2009
Ink and acrylic on canvas
304.8 x 416.6 cm (120 x 164 in.)
Collection of the artist, courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/London/Paris
Photograph courtesy the artist
Wangechi Mutu b. 1972, Kenya The Storm Has Finally Made It Out of Me Alhamdulillah 2012 Collage on linoleum 193 x 295.9 x 10.2 cm (76 x 116 1/2 x 4 in.) Collection of the artist, courtesy Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles ProjectsWangechi Mutu
b. 1972, Kenya
The Storm Has Finally Made It Out of Me Alhamdulillah
2012
Collage on linoleum
193 x 295.9 x 10.2 cm (76 x 116 1/2 x 4 in.)
Collection of the artist, courtesy Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
Photograph courtesy the artist
Nicholas Hlobo b. 1975, South Africa Tyaphaka 2012 Rubber, ribbon, hose pipe, packaging material 400 x 50000 x 30 cm (157 1/2 x 19685 x 11 3/4 in.), dimensions variable Collection of the artist, courtesy Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town/JohannesburgNicholas Hlobo
b. 1975, South Africa
Tyaphaka
2012
Rubber, ribbon, hose pipe, packaging material
400 x 50,000 x 30 cm
(157 1/2 x 19,685 x 11 3/4 in.), dimensions variable
Collection of the artist, courtesy Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town/Johannesburg
Photograph by Axel Schneider
©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
Yinka Shonibare MBE b. 1962, Great Britain How to Blow Up Two Heads at Once (Gentlemen) 2006 Mannequins, guns, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, leather riding boots, plinth 175 x 245 x 122 cm (68 7/8 x 96 1/2 x 48 in.) Sindika Dokolo Collection, LuandaYinka Shonibare MBE
b. 1962, Great Britain
How to Blow Up Two Heads at Once (Gentlemen)
2006
Mannequins, guns, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, leather riding boots, plinth
175 x 245 x 122 cm (68 7/8 x 96 1/2 x 48 in.)
Sindika Dokolo Collection, Luanda
Photograph by Axel Schneider
©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
Wim Botha b. 1974, South Africa Prism 10 (Dead Laocoön) 2013 Bronze 248.9 x 190.5 x 104.1 cm (98 x 75 x 41 in.) Collection of the artist, courtesy Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town/JohannesburgWim Botha
b. 1974, South Africa
Prism 10 (Dead Laocoön)
2013
Bronze
248.9 x 190.5 x 104.1 cm (98 x 75 x 41 in.)
Collection of the artist, courtesy Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town/Johannesburg
Photograph by Axel Schneider
©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
Mouna Karray b. 1970, Tunisia The Rope 2014 Pigment ink on barite paper Framed, quadriptych: 119.4 x 558.8 cm (47 x 220 in.) Collection of the artistMouna Karray
b. 1970, Tunisia
The Rope
2014
Pigment ink on barite paper
Framed, quadriptych: 119.4 x 558.8 cm
(47 x 220 in.)
Collection of the artist
Photograph by Axel Schneider
©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt


What do your fears look like? Are they located in the dark or in a blinding light? Do they feel hot or hopelessly cold? And what or who is it that scares you or deserves your condemnation? People and places fracturing and splitting apart? Forces of nature spun out of control? A senseless war in which men blow off one another’s heads? The artists in this section explore these questions and others, for hell can be found in a passion for land or religion if it leads to war; it can even be embodied by a beached whale. This is a hell in which we never see ourselves and others fully but always in bits and pieces. What would your hell look like?