Contemporary Artists from Angola

In Angola Rising, profiles from the contemporary art world:

Firstly:

Image courtesy of Universes in Universe

António Ole, one of Angola’s most admired and internationally acknowledged artists. He expounds, “The world is in transition. And during transitions there tend to be artistic explosions, explosions of creativity. Right now, everyone should be alert. Interpreting the world is part of what we artists do,” he says

and in his words:

Image courtesy of Paulo Kussy

“Painting is like writing a song,” Paulo Kussy explains in the café of a Luanda city centre hotel. “You spend five days thinking about the lyrics and the melody. Then you go to the studio, close your eyes and just let it go.” Kussy is inspired by the Pre- Raphaelites, neoclassicism, baroque art, cubism, surrealism, architecture, graffiti art and the hectic day-to-day life of Luanda. “I enjoy looking at people,” he says. “Our structure, muscles, fat – I study people when I look at them.” His paintings are all about “people fighting for space” and he places great emphasis on anatomy. “The figures in my paintings ask for help. They’re aggressive, they’re submissive, they are pulled away, pushed against.

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