BOLD: New Voices in Contemporary Art at Newfields

Re-Remembering V (Something Torn and New), by Wangari Mathenge

In an exhibit continuing through June 28, 2026, the  Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) at Newfields presents thirteen works in the collection of the IMA. As described by the museum, the works "highlight (its) ever expanding and globally relevant contemporary art collection." 

Several are recent acquisitions of works by "cutting-edge contemporary" African artists. Those works, along with some works already in the museum's collection, make up nine of the thirteen that are shown for the first time in an exhibit by the IMA.

All the works represent  the IMA's "evolving contemporary collection and its commitment toward a global, inclusive, relevant future."

The show, BOLD: New Voices in Contemporary Art, includes a single work each of the included artists. The new acquisitions include works by African artists such as Wole Lagunju, Turiya Magadlela and Kimathi Mafafo.  Museum favorite artworks previously on display in the collection are also included, such as those by Vaughn Spann, Carlos Rolón and Samuel Levi Jones. 

The word bold describes not only the artworks, their ambitious scale in many cases, and the underlying artistic statement in others, but also the exhibition space itself and the innovative selection of works and color of the walls. 

Re-Remembering V (Something Torn and New), (top of page) a large oil on canvas by Kenyan artist Wangari Mathenge, presents an amazing and realistic portrait of a woman, perhaps standing, perhaps lying down. Her right arm raised and bent with the point of the elbow highest. The pose subtly hints at classic female portraits with hand behind head. 

The picture is an avalanche of color, pattern, object and shape, with a few carefully placed words, most noticeably, 'Hope'. 

Textiles and clothing, in a haphazard jumble, vie for the viewers attention with plaids, checks, stripes and organic and floral patterns. Books, toys, consumer items, produce such as an eggplant and lemons, and photos are scattered about completing a busy mishmash of elements that delight the eye. 

The title refers to a book, carefully painted near the woman's left hip amid the mountain of other objects; a bright orange rectangle of color near a round orange of the same hue and bottle of Coke. 

The detailed care of the painting's items makes the book's title clear, and thus the importance of its inclusion. 

Something Torn and New by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, subtitled An African Renaissance.  According to the accompanying exhibit notes, in the book the author “presents his concept of 'Europhonism,' or the replacement of native African names, languages and identities with European ones.”

With that in mind, looking at and experiencing Mathenge's remarkable picture, one can see the painter's woman as perhaps overwhelmed with the collision of Western and African traditions and socioeconomic systems both trying to survive, even triumph, at the same time in the same place. She does not look happy, or particularly sad. Perhaps reticent or wary, but like the word on the yellow banner near her upraised arm, possessing hope.

The Adoration of Benjamin, 2023, by Wole Langunju, a Nigerian artist, shows a current British celebrity and musician in a monumental portrait. The work, also an oil on canvas, is boldly pattered and colorful, not unlike Mathenge's Re-Remembering. 

According to the gallery notes, the artist is using the patterns and colors of a specific African tradition as a basis for his design. The wrapping of the subject, Benjamin, and his background space, in the colors and the patterns of Africa, as opposed to the posh, Western clothing or environs he is usually seen in, seems a repatriation in a way, by Langunju, of Benjamin. If not the man himself, his stylish beauty, his success, perhaps his charismatic power –  attributes of the painting, as well as the sitter.  

The Adoration of Benjamin by Wole Langunju

Or the painting could be something more akin to fan-fiction, in this case fan-art. Wherein the artist incorporates their favorites into the style of their overall work, such as Andy Warhol did with his many celebrity portraits, in the overall vein of his signature look.

Sisters in Unison I, 2024, by South African artist Kimathi Mafate, is a large hand- and machine-stitched embroidery on fabric piece in shades of rose, flesh, black and white. 

The piece is lush and extravagant in a decorative manner reminiscent of Gustav Klimt, yet here, so pretty in pink, all the artist's own. 

Two reclined women, intimately close, are stretched out in parallel poses, and look out with sideways glances at the viewer.

 

Sisters in Unison I by Kimathi Mafate

There is a splendor and perfume to the opulent scene. The power of the gaze of the women is balanced by the soft billowing curves of the fabric which surrounds them, the overall soft and feminine color scheme, and the many flower blossoms that almost appear summoned by the gesture of their hands.

In addition to many additional large and engaging two-dimensional pieces, a large sculptural vessel in painted fiberglass, Ndebele Abstract, 2023, by Esther Mahlangu. The Ndebele tradition is described by the exhibition notes as “an art form celebrated for its bold geometric patterns, vibrant colors, and intricate symmetry .”  All those attributes are contained in Mahlangu's vessel, creating a stunning overall effect. 

Ndebele Abstract by Esther Mahlangu

In a way, bold, vibrant, colorful and patterned are components seen in some part in most every work in the show.  From the dazzling, fluid video work, Rabbit Hole, 2011, by Jacco Olivier to the massive show-stopper Rover, 2021, by Vaughn Spann, whose assemblage, which due to the gargantuan size, is experienced as more an installation that a multi-media painting. As show-stoppers usually are,  it is big and bold.   

Mark Diekhoff, February 2026

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