Alfred Amadu Conteh is an American sculptor, painter and

mixed-media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...

artist.

Biography

Alfred Amadu Conteh was born in 1975 in Fort Valley, Georgia. He attended

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...

, where he received a BFA. He received his MFA from

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hine ...

Statesboro Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to the flagship campus of Georgia Southern University and is part of the Savannah–Hines ...

, Georgia. His mother is African American and his father is from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, West Africa. Many of his works examine his personal identity through his parents' experiences and cultural differences. Along with paintings, Conteh creates organic contemporary sculpture that uses symbology to express his narratives of the African American southern experience." Conteh uses a variety of media as a vehicle to provoke thought that will result in change." Sink by Alfred Amadu Conteh

Career

Alfred Amadu Conteh began exhibiting in 2003 and since then he has participated in over 12 solo exhibitions and many group exhibitions. Conteh's work has caused controversial responses in some instances. His exhibition at Tubman Museum in 2015 in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

, caused a stir amongst religious leaders who found his piece "Preacher Pimp" offensive. "Conteh's "pimp" series features a variety of people and their wrongdoings to others. Among those included are the "Athlete Pimp," “Property-Owning Pimp" and "Mother Pimp." The series highlights the dark side of how we interact with others and treat them, Conteh said. "Preacher Pimp" reflects the religious leaders whose actions are unethical but isn't representative of all of church leaders, Conteh said." Alfred Conteh's recent series, "Two Fronts", is a visual exploration of how people of the African Diaspora in the South are facing economic, educational, and psychological wars. His recent exhibition at September Gray Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia, garnered critical review from the

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

. "Conteh’s treatment of his subjects affirms the centrality of these people as representatives of the human condition: the mothers and workers and children and hustlers as worthy of their own commemoration." Alfred Amadu Conteh has gained a national following. He has exhibited at several museums and galleries including, Tubman Museum in

Museum of Arts an Sciences A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Hudgens Center for the Arts Hudgens is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Christopher Hudgens (born 1977), American artist *Dave Hudgens (born 1956), American baseball player and coach * Dave Hudgens (American football) (born 1955), American football player ...

, and

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. His work has been collected and exhibited widely throughout the South."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conteh, Alfred Amadu 1975 births African-American sculptors Living people Painters from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Fort Valley, Georgia African-American painters 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people