On February 12th, Art of Contemporary Africa (AOCA) opens its doors at the Minnesota Street Project in Dogpatch, marking the launch of the city’s first Pan-African contemporary art gallery in San Francisco. AOCA is led by Craig Mark and acclaimed South African photographer Clint Strydom, and is dedicated to presenting leading and emerging artists from Africa and the African diaspora.

Working across painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and mixed media, AOCA’s artists span generations and geographies, reflecting the diversity and complexity of contemporary African artistic practice. Many of these artists, including Mahlangu, will be featured in the gallery’s first exhibit, Afropop. Spanning generations and geographies, the exhibition foregrounds artistic practices that are grounded in lived experience while actively engaging in global contemporary discourse. With its inaugural exhibition, AOCA asserts Africa not as a peripheral site of artistic production, but as a central and active contributor to global contemporary art. 

February 12 - March 28, 2026