Click on images to enlarge. Photos by Mark Wolfe of Mark Wolfe Design

In the April issue of Utne Reader, an article titled "Real Time Africa" talks of a travelling exhibit of African art now making the rounds through Europe. Featuring contemporary work by more than 80 artists, the exhibit is so big it has three categories: "Identity and History," "Body and Soul," and "City and Land." If Europe isn't on your travel agenda, but you are wanting to check out some cool African art, visit the local Annex Gallery at Taylor Books before its own exhibit of African art closes on Friday.

Judy Strawderman, an African Art collector for almost 30 years, co-owns Scary Creek Art and teaches at W.Va. State University. The pieces she currently has on exhibit are mostly traditional art forms, but a few are more contemporary (the Madkonde sculptures for example). The exhibit features 100 art pieces - figures, masks, and more - from a wide variety of African countries, acquired from traders, galleries, and flea markets. Many of these pieces are also for sale.

In their own communities, many such items were created to be used as more than just as art. "It is an art form which is alive. It is not meant to be isolated in a case but rather to be used, held, and seen," says Strawderman. "Overall the majority of my pieces where designed to be used in everyday life, spiritual/religious ceremonies, storytelling, and rites of passage."

One intriguing aspect of the exhibit is appreciating each piece on its own and using your imagination to see it in the context of why it was created. Strawderman advises art viewers: "When we look at a piece, even in this show, we see it isolated. We see the mask, but we don't see it with the full costume in the environment for which it was designed to be used. We see a beautiful beaded blanket, but we don't see it draped across the shoulders of a woman wearing a beaded apron, with bead work and brass rings around her neck standing in front of a house painted in the same type of brilliant geometric patterns which we see on the blanket and apron. So we learn to appreciate the form outside of its context."

IF YOU GO: The exhibit closes tomorrow, Friday, March 3, Annex Gallery, Taylor Books, 226 Capitol Street.

---By Amy Williams