Object Details
- Label Text
- Body Isek Kingelez wrote that his art was his way to contribute to a decolonized Africa, with his urban cityscapes serving as a vehicle for reimagining Africa’s collective future. He built small models of futuristic, utopian cityscapes fashioned from repurposed, found materials. The dynamic energy centered in the sprawling urban center of Kinshasa inspired Kingelez’s work, though many of his detailed structures were his own invention.
- From his early urban building to his vibrant cityscapes, Kingelez envisioned a progressive way of living—a way of regeneration. Over the course of his prolific career, Kingelez created more than 300 sculptures ranging from individual structures to entire cities boasting colorful skyscrapers, stadiums, parks, monuments, waterways, and wide avenues. A representation of a single address in a cityscape, in its idealized architectural forms and meticulous details Base King is consistent with the artist’s more expansive cityscapes.
- Description
- Colorful mixed media sculpture featuring a tall skyscraper rising above smaller urban buildings fashioned from cardboard, plastic, pins, pen and paint. Green, red, silver, and blue hues predominate.
- Provenance
- Private collection, Paris
- Acquired from the above by private owner
- Lot 11 in Sotheby’s 28 March 2018 Modern and Contemporary African Art sale
- Published References
- Beauté Congo, Fondation Cartier, Paris, 2015-2016, p. 253
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Date
- 2000
- Maker
- Bodys Isek Kingelez, 1948-2015, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Geography
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by the Annie Laurie Aitken Endowment
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Object number
- 2018-13-1
- Type
- Sculpture
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Medium
- Cardboard, plastic, pins, card, glue, pen and paint
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 75.8 × 34.2 × 25.3 cm (29 13/16 × 13 7/16 × 9 15/16 in.)
- Record ID
- nmafa_2018-13-1
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Thanks to Verizon for support of this Our Shared Future: Reckoning with our Racial Past project.
3D Model