ALFRED CONTEH

"As a spiritual activist, Conteh offers the idea that we are passing energy from one generation to the next. In Conduit, Conteh sculpts an electrical socket to the body of a traditional African sculptural form inside a circular shape. In doing so, he is asserting that energy transmits through the body like electrical currents. By placing the figure within a circle, he reinforces the idea that energy moves in a circular direction about the world, inside us and between us." 

"American artist Alfred Conteh’s sculptures in the “Tetnus” series on view have a rawness and energy that are impossible to miss. His work makes use of expressive lines that frequently surround or link abstracted figure(s). Filled with narrative wonder, the series symbolizes societal forces that destroy the collective consciousness."

"In this body of work, Conteh wanted to put faces in front of the statistics that speak of their marginalization in Atlanta. He didn’t ask his subjects to come to his studio or pose them in any way. Instead, he opted to approach people candidly and ask to take their photograph, allowing his subjects to pose however they were most comfortable. In some instances, he captured them without their knowledge and later asked for permission. “I made it a point to be mindful of how they’re posed and what they’re communicating with their facial expressions,” he says. In some of the portraits you can look into the eyes of the subject, but many of them look away, not allowing their souls to be exposed through their eyes."

Conteh’s solo show, “Two Fronts: Surface and Reason,” at September Gray Fine Art Gallery reimagines portraiture for a modern age with images that have photography’s immediacy and painting’s resonance in this catalog of citizenry and the struggles of quiet, ordinary existence.

"Even in our current digitally constructed and image-saturated world, traditional 2D and 3D media provide evocative vehicles for the investigation and expression of pressing concerns that are at once political and personal. So demonstrates the recent work of 11 artists selected by curator Jerushia Graham for Personal Politics: Artist as Witness, Memory Keeper & Social Conscience, at the Hudgens Center for the Arts"

"At 8 feet tall, Alfred Conteh’s Conduit is small compared to Clark’s map, and the circular wall sculpture offers a more intimate commentary. Made up of elements that combine traditional African sculpture as well as modern consumer culture, the work’s central figure is a totemic female with a face shaped like an electrical outlet."

The Preacher Pimp multi-media painting by Atlanta-based artist Alfred Conteh. It is the subject of controversy in Macon and the Harriet Tubman Museum.

"While the exhibit does not focus on a particular aspect of the artist's wide-variety of styles, it does feature the first exhibition of six works from the artist's contentious "Pimp Series."

"These work have never been exhibited before," said Bruce. "We will be the first institution to show these works."