LONDON.- The African Art Hub has announced its expansion and upcoming rebrand as The Southern Art Hub amid a surge in global collector interest in art from the Global South.

For the past five years, The African Art Hub has brought contemporary African artists to global art fairs and audiences around the world.

The nomadic gallery and online platform will be expanding its remit and relaunching as The Southern Art Hub to platform the work of artists from across the Global South, as the market surge for African and Latin American art continues to thrive.

According to London art-market researcher ArtTactic works by contemporary African artists now exceed a combined annual value of over $72m – more than double their 2016 value.

Throughout this ten-year market surge, The African Art Hub has been instrumental in bringing contemporary African art to global audiences across Europe and the US.

The African Art Hub became a highlight at fairs like the British Art Fair and the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, which now has editions in London, New York, and Marrakech.

In December 2025, Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama became the first African to top ArtReview’s global power list, reflecting the continuing rise of contemporary African art in recent years.

The Southern Art Hub will debut its expanded programme this January at the London Art Fair 2026, maintaining an unwavering commitment to empowering African artists, and beginning its mission to work with artists from across the Global South.


Three Global South artists at London Art Fair 2026: (L – R) Alessandra Risi, Kay Gasei, Kingsley Ayogu

The Southern Art Hub is bringing three Global South artists to the London Art Fair 2026 – Nigerian painter Kinglsey Ayogu, Zambian-born British based artist Kay Gasei, and Latin American painter Alessandra Risi.

The Southern Art Hub Gallery also announces the appointment of Lead s Curator Antonia Mejía Arango. She comments: “Across the Global South we are seeing artists forming new creative networks that bypass traditional gatekeepers. These are not emerging scenes — they are established, confident, interconnected cultures finally being seen on their own terms.”

Exhibiting with The Southern Art Hub at London Art Fair 2026:

Kingsley Ayogu is a Nigerian painter based in Lagos. Ayogu has won 123k Instagram followers with his hyperrealist works. In 2021, his painting of Malcom X in the White House went viral. The portrait, which modelled X’s posture on Obama’s, invited us to imagine an alternative political reality through art.

Kingsley Ayogu followed this up with a series of Icons in the White House paintings. Imagined portraits of historic black leaders and creatives including Mohammad Ali, Fela Kuti, Virgil Abloh, Chinua Achebe, revolutionary Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara, and Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah in the White House featured. Ayogu was an Art X Lagos Prize 2022 finalist and is a Future Awards Africa-winner. @ayogu.kingsley

Zambian, British raised Londoner Kay Gasei is a mixed-media artist, illustrator, and designer. His work has been exhibited at Art Basel Miami, The Affordable Art Fair, Saatchi Art’s The Other Art Fair, and the Affinity Gallery in Lagos. In 2021, he won the Kate Bryan Soho House Residency Award and became the first artist selected by Soho House to be a Soho Home artist-in-residence. However, the artist says leading design workshops with young offenders is his “greatest personal achievement.” As a child, Gasei wanted to be anthropologist. Today, he explores myths, society, and culture in his art. On his inspiration, Gasei comments: “I’m into stories, myths, all the minutiae that contributes to the tapestry of life – stuff innit.” @kaygaseiart

Peruvian painter Alessandra Risi, a recent graduate from The Royal College of Art who has shown work at Art Basel Miami and Somerset House, will also be exhibited by The Southern Art Hub. @alessandrarisicastoldi

The Southern Art Hub is determined to bring outstanding contemporary art from across the Global South to a global audience. From a digital platform driving international online sales to exhibiting at prestigious art fairs: The Southern Art Hub will champion contemporary art from Africa, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, Oceania, and their diasporas to audiences around the world.

The London Art Fair is the premier destination for art collectors every January, with over 120 art galleries and artists from around the world exhibiting work, and a curated display from London Art Fair 2026 Museum Partner, The National Trust.

Kingsley Ayogu, Kay Gasei, and Alessandra Risi are exhibiting with The Southern Art Hub at the London Art Fair, 21-25 January 2026.