Alistair Hardaker
Image: Abdulaye Konate, Vert Pour Sidy, 2017. Courtesy the artist and Primo Marella Gallery, Milan
Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez gift includes works by El Anatsui, Yinka Shonibare and Joy Labinjo as part of wider multi-million donation.
Tate has received a donation of 36 works by artists from Africa and the African diaspora from collectors Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez.
The donated artworks form part of a wider gift from Mr. and Mrs. Pérez to Tate. Earlier this year it was announced that the family was to donate a Joan Mitchell triptych which is now on display at Tate Modern. It was also announced that it would support a curatorial post through a multi-million dollar donation to Tate’s new endowment.
Osei Bonsu, curator of Tate Modern’s exhibitions Nigerian Modernism and A World in Common, has now been appointed to the post of Jorge M. Pérez Senior Curator, International Art, Africa and Diaspora.
The 36 artworks announced today include several modern and contemporary painters who will join Tate’s collection for the first time: Chéri Samba (b.1956), a founding member of the Zaire School of Popular Painting; Amadou Sanogo (b.1977), a central figure in Mali’s contemporary art scene; and the young British Nigerian artist Joy Labinjo (b.1994).
Alongside painters and sculptors, several artists working in photography and textile are represented in the gift. They include a significant group of works by Malian studio photographers Seydou Keïta (1921/23-2001), Malick Sidibé (1935-2016) and Adam Kouyaté (1928-2020), as well as influential Nigerian photographers J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere (1930-2014) and Rotimi Fani Kayode (1955-1989).
Textile works include a sculptural mannequin clothed in Dutch wax-print fabric by celebrated British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare (b.1962) and a tapestry of West African dyed textiles and fabrics by Malian artist Abdoulaye Konaté (b.1953).
Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate, said the Pérez family’s second major gift to Tate “helps us continue that work now and into the future.”
Jorge M. Pérez is an American businessman of Latin descent and Founding Executive Chairman of Miami-based real estate company Related Group.
Pérez said: “Darlene and I are honoured to share these works with Tate and its audiences, ensuring that the extraordinary creativity of artists from Africa and its diaspora is celebrated and preserved within one of the world’s leading museums.”
