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| Djilatendo, 'Untitled', 1929, Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels |
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| Tshyela Ntendu, 'Abstractie', ca 1928-1933, Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels |
I was very happy with the duo show 'Patterns for (re)cognition' we had on show in KIOSK the past two months!
During his current research on colonial psychology, Belgian artist Vincent Meessen was intrigued by the relation between the formal abstraction of certain cognitive tests and Western geometrical abstract art. By displaying a curated section of abstract paintings from the late 1920s by one of the two so-called first modern Congolese artists, the pioneer Tshyela Ntendu (aka Djilatendo), Meessen proposed a ‘constructivist scenario’ that problematizes the Western narrative of abstraction in regard to so-called primitive ornament.
During his current research on colonial psychology, Belgian artist Vincent Meessen was intrigued by the relation between the formal abstraction of certain cognitive tests and Western geometrical abstract art. By displaying a curated section of abstract paintings from the late 1920s by one of the two so-called first modern Congolese artists, the pioneer Tshyela Ntendu (aka Djilatendo), Meessen proposed a ‘constructivist scenario’ that problematizes the Western narrative of abstraction in regard to so-called primitive ornament.
