Africa Rising II - Barbara Chase-Riboud

In 1997, Barbara Chase-Riboud (born in 1939 in Philadelphia, living and working in Paris since 1961) created Africa Rising, a public commission from the United States to honor the lives of the four hundred African Americans whose remains were discovered beneath Wall Street in New York. Since 1998, this monument has been displayed nearby in the Ted Weiss Federal Building. In Africa Rising, Chase-Riboud brought together seemingly divergent inspirations that, through her, coexist: the Winged Victory of Samothrace, held at the Louvre Museum, Sarah Baartman – objectified in the 19^th century under the name “Hottentot Venus” – and the visage of model Naomi Campbell. In doing so, she created a monument to human beauty and transcendence.  Nearly thirty years later, she presents Africa Rising II, for the first time, to the French public, on the grounds of the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries.

With the generous support of the Ford Foundation.

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Barbara Chase-Riboud (1939)
Africa Rising II, 2024
Bronze