2026 Out: Clout Animals

Forgive me as these thoughts might be a bit jumbled, but I really wanted to get this out today, ahead of the new year.

I’ve always struggled in the art world, from the very beginning. I could never really get behind the politics, the fake shit, the openings, the social calendar. I try very hard, and understand that there are parts of everyone’s jobs that they simply do not like. But for me, there is something that I think has been exacerbated this year, both in the art and cultural spheres, which is just watching people move through all the bullshit with little to zero discernment. And this is not a slight at well-meaning people who might just be a little naive. I find it a little bit more sinister; people that can see and understand bad actors or charlatans and who stick around and support them just in case they might be able to gain something from it. The clout economy! It’s very hard for me to write this without sounding self-righteous, and believe me I have also kiki’d with the wrong people at times, but it always left me feeling a little dirty. I guess I’ve noticed a really worrying trend of seemingly smart people repeatedly backing the wrong horse. Playing all sides, prioritising clout over their intuition, or sometimes pure evidence, about people. I’m sorry but I really really believe that you have to stand for something, if not morally then at least aesthetically. Culture isn’t politics.

I did the Raw Academy program in 2018, and it was a largely traumatic experience at the hands of Tracey Rose, the leader of our session. Raw is an amazing place, the core team there are some of the kindest people I’ve met working in art, and Koyo created something incredible. I was just unfortunate to have been a part of the session with Tracey. She was erratic, a bully, insecure, wild. I took it personally because she made it personal. At that time, I was 24 years old and was really just about to pivot fully into working in art. I remember me and my cohort were constantly complaining about her, talking shit left right and centre. And for me, I made it clear to her face that I would never respect her or anything she had to say. I avoided her and only spoke to her when necessary. I made it a point to not laugh when she made a joke, for her to not think for a second she could get too familiar with me after attempting to bully me for weeks.

What I found surprising was that there were only a few other people who did the same. Some of the others would bitch about her with me, and then be extremely friendly with her, some even going as far as to hang out with her after the course was over. I found it shocking, namely because once I left that course there was no planet on which I would ever speak to her again. At the time, I understood that my privilege allowed me to have boundaries where others might not have been able to. My privilege was that Tracey Rose was not and would never be my ticket into the art world. I did not need her. For others, that might not have been the case. And it probably would not have been wise for them to take such a strong stance against her. I understood that then, and I understand it even more looking back. We were all under 30, trying to figure out our paths in this very obscure, murky, weird art world. But I stood on business, and I guess I expected others to as well.

This leads me to why I have been thinking so much about this this week. Achille wrote a really great piece about the MOWAA museum in Benin City. It was something I was waiting for, a balanced, nuanced, honest piece that rightfully questioned the role of the leadership in creating a museum that alienated the local communities while revering international donors and patrons. There was a piece that covered their struggle to raise locally, but that didn’t go far enough, in my opinion, into why so many wealthy Nigerians did not feel it to be a project worthy of support. Achille is the only person to my knowledge who went there. After everything went down I kept seeing article after article, and all of them seemed to be quite wide of the mark. And many of which belittled the people of Benin’s right to protest, their right to question how an institution might show up in their city. It made me wonder; what are people afraid of? Why is no one willing to tell the truth, or at least look into it, about what is going on here?

I guess as the year rounds up, and as I get older everyday, I am trying to figure out the balance between ‘playing the game’ and standing for something. It is something that is especially hard in my capacity as a writer. Is it immature to not want to be fake? To not pretend to like things that are objectively under-researched and poorly executed? Also, as a black person operating in this world, do I have to outwardly support all other black players? I struggle with this because I feel deeply that this approach, of clout over substance, is actually detrimental to black arts and culture. The dearth of criticism is perpetuating mediocrity in a way that could set us back really far if we’re not careful. I also think, lowkey, it’s what they want. (I’m going to write another Substack about this) We’re allowing things into the mainstream, uncontested, that should really be quite near the bottom of the cultural hierarchy. But then, whilst we all operate in an industry that is still very white, I also hate to be the person that takes food off of a black person’s plate. It’s something that I really struggle with all the time. When I’m in Europe, I am rooting for everybody black, but when I’m in Africa I would really like to not have to pretend that mediocre things are good.

I don’t want to sound like or actually be a hater. But what I’ve realised is that I’m really interested in people who take their work seriously. I don’t actually have time to pretend around people for whom this is all a gimmick. And I guess I am just constantly surprised by how often smart people entertain the gimmicky shit, on the off chance that they might gain some clout from it. Everyday I’m seeing ‘curators’ that don’t care, ‘artists’ that are cooning their way around town and I’m tired!

But weirdly, I’m also excited for this year, for the shedding that comes with being hyper-focused on work that I respect and admire. I’ve learned so many lessons this year, about how I want to work, who I want to work with, what I can put up with and what I can’t. I feel confident and hopeful that like-minded people will continue to find each other and make magic together. Happy New Year!

Working In’s and Out’s, to be updated:

Outs

• Art fairs

• Travelling to places at peak times

• America

• Alcohol

• That Jeanneret chair

• Beige

• Pulling from the archive just to say you pulled from the archive

• Homogenisation of women’s looks specifically the face that looks like a bike seat (chin filler?)

• Men

• GLP 1’s

• Hollywood

• Clout animals

• European small plates

• Digicam aesthetic

Ins

• Books

• Real burgers (as opposed to smash)

• Websites with content and character

• Olive oil desserts

• Hojicha

• Agbalumo

• Doing the crossword

• Liking yourself

• Looking your age

• Tamarind

• Vegetables/vegetarianism

• Rest

• Female owners of sports teams