Tomorrows/Today Section Booth T2
In “Mascarade”, Joël Andrianomearisoa uses strips of denim to create pliable mille-feuilles that fold over a single, large nail affixed to the wall. Each strip of denim is layered neatly on top of each other to create a deliberate stack – like a pile of jeans in a store comprising of the same wash, cut, and size, organised painstakingly by a store clerk.
In paring down the structures ubiquitous to exhibiting art, and eschewing the use of frames, Andrianomearisoa’s pieces build relationships solely with the nail – hidden under the fold of the fabric – on which they are hung. It allows him to direct our attention on the layers of fabric, the unique textures and shades created by different washes and different amounts of wear from the jeans he used, and the framework of the weave in each piece of denim. From a distance, the way in which the denim is hung on the nail also reminds us of certain African masks – particularly those with long hair-like extensions, as seen on Ote Iri masks used in the Okwanko masquerade of the Akanu Ohafia Igbo people in Nigeria.
In a way, Andrianomearisoa is playing, here, with our pre-conceived notions of “Africa”: when we think “Africa”, we immediately picture masks, superstitions, and rituals. But he then takes our stereotypes, and playfully challenges us to rethink the “Africa” in our image repertoires, using the concept of masks, masking, and masquerades. Here, the instrument used in masking the self – the tool essential to transforming and transporting oneself – is the denim jean. His use of this ubiquitous, down-to-earth item of clothing draws attention to the way in which blue jeans are a way of transporting ourselves to different identities; as simple as their origins may be, jeans can signal difference in social class, belonging to specific social groups, and even our aspirations.
Joël Andrianomearisoa (born 1977, in Madagascar) is currently taking part on the major group show Autour du nouveau réalisme - Les Dadas des Daniel at Les abattoirs - FRAC Midi-Pyrénées in Toulouse (France), coinciding with his solo show La Bibliothèque Sentimentale at the same venue in February 2017. He will also participate in two group exhibitions curated by Simon Njami at La Vilette, Paris (France) in March and at Gare Saint Sauveur in Lille (France) in April 2017.
He had his first solo exhibition in a museum at the Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery in Kaunas (Lithuania) during 2016 and at the beginning of that year he was the recipient of the IV Audemars Piguet ARCOmadrid Prize for the production of a work of art. His most prominent recent group shows include The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists curated by Simon Njami at the National Museum of African Art (USA), at the Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and at the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum, Savannah (USA); The progress of love curated by Kristina Van Dyke, Bisi Silva and Susan Sutton at the Menil Collection (USA) and Africa Africans at the Museu Afro Brasil in Sao Paulo (Brazil). Joël Andrianomearisoa has exhibited at Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), at the Sudio Museum Harlem (New York), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Museum Kunst Palast (Düsseldorf), the Hayward Gallery (London), the Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul) and at the Moderna Museet (Stockholm), among other institutions.
He has participated in several biennials and festivals like the Dakar Biennale (2016, 2014), Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine in Bamako (2015, 2009), Cairo Biennale (2010); and La Habana Biennale (2006). Joël was part of the seminal show Africa Remix (2004-2007) curated by Simon Njami.
Andrianomearisoa's work has recently being acquired by the Zeitz MOCAA (South Africa), and his ouvre is part of public collections like the National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution (USA), Studio Museum Harlem (USA), Sindika Dokolo Fondation (Angola) and the Fond Régional d’Art Contemporain - Frac La Réunion (France), among others.

mpefm SOUTH AFRICA fair art press release
Fair hours:
Friday 17 FEB: 11am – 7pm
Saturday 18 FEB: 11am – 7pm
Sunday 19 FEB: 11am – 7pm
Tickets
Adults: Early bird discount until 13 February 2017: R126 (R140 from 14 February 2017)
Pensioners and Students: R100
Children over 12: R100
Children under 12: R50