Ibrahim Mahama, Non-Orientable Nkansa (2017), via White Cube

Since his step onto the world stage at the 2015 Venice Biennale, artist Ibrahim Mahama has garnered impressive critical attention for his use of reclaimed jute sacks and other cast-off materials.  Drawing on the intersections of capitalist exchange, material decay, and commercial detritus, Mahama’s work uses structure and use as indicators of failed and fluctuating economic systems.  This practice takes on new elements and variations in the artist’s current exhibition at White Cube in London, his first solo exhibition in the UK, and a powerful introduction to the artist’s attentive, challenging body of work.

Ibrahim Mahama, Issaka Tob (2016), via White Cube

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Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, whose stretched jute sack are a highlight of this summer’s Venice Biennale, is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by Stefan Simchowitz and Dublin dealer Jonathan Ellis King, after the artist emailed them disowning 294 pieces by the artist.  “I was really left with no choice,” Simchowitz said, noting that the act has cost the dealers over $4.45 million. (more…)