The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, now open at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Manhattan, presents a smaller edition than previous years but continues to offer unexpected, tactile works. Highlights include Rommulo Vieira Conceição's Pop-art-inspired wall installation at Aura gallery, Kendra Frorup's mixed-media piece at the Current: Baha Mar Gallery, and Eymric Moderne's gold-leaf and glass bird painting at TM Arthouse. The fair also features posthumous works by Marcel Gotène at Loeve and Co and Sophia Bounou's enigmatic paintings at Blond Contemporary.
This edition matters because it reaffirms the fair's role as a space for genuine discovery in an art fair season often dominated by market transactions. By foregrounding material experimentation and cross-cultural narratives—such as Conceição's commentary on Brazilian influence on the US—1-54 demonstrates that smaller, curated presentations can offer more surprising and intellectually engaging experiences than larger commercial fairs. It underscores the continued vitality and diversity of contemporary African and diaspora art.