LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery is delighted to present a series of impressive and immersive exhibitions. Indeed, the art space enters a new year on an unprecedented artistic note by hosting three monographic exhibitions of distinguished artists whose work is distinguished by originality of technique and depth of reflection. For each of these artists, these exhibitions mark their international successes over the past year and their entry into important private and institutional collections. Until May 2024, solo shows by Ange Dakouo, Oumar Ball and Sess Essoh will be presented at the LouiSimone Guirandou in Abidjan.
An artistic immersion at the Louisimone Gallery through Ange Dakouo’s exhibition “Égrégore”
Until January 06, 2024, “Égrégore” immerses us in the optimistic, poetic philosophy of Ange Dakouo. The artist seduces audiences with a rich artistic journey, interweaving an enveloping diversity of mediums including painting, weaving, collage and sculpture. Revealing his roots in Malian culture and his vision of a harmonious world, he places the brotherhood of Dozo hunters at the heart of his artistic approach. A community of initiates with ancestral origins who once watched over the Sahelian kingdoms, fulfilling a dyptic duty of protection, warrior and healer.
The “Égrégore” exhibition presents a series of works by Ange Dakouo that pay homage to this ancient brotherhood, their way of life and their animistic beliefs. Taking on the role of a griot, his creations depict the cults, music, accessories and incantations of the Dozo community. The artist accentuates the ancestral mystery surrounding the brotherhood by depicting human and animal silhouettes, like spectres, enveloping the local populations, who in turn contribute to nurturing the power of the mystical community thanks to the trust they placed in it.
Even today, their entire culture is based on cryptic rituals, including the making of amulets and grigris to adorn their outfits. Ange Dakouo has developed a particular interest in these amulets. In addition to their protective capacity, he is particularly interested in their uniqueness and intimacy. Each grigri is unique, carrying a sacred charge and reflecting the image of the wearer. Inspired by these talismans, the artist subtly moves away from their traditional skin design, and turns to a paper-based conception. Carefully crafted and unified with cotton thread, these “woven gris-gris” become part of a whole, like the individuals who make up a society.
Paper amulets arranged to influence each other’s positioning give life to the “Egregore“, a collective power focused on a common goal. Ange Dakouo uses this grand whole with its ancestral symbolism to illustrate his deep conviction in a better future, in which social cohesion is the most important value. With harmonious fabrics sublimated by the pertinence of paper grigris adjustments, the work presents itself as a projection of a societal ideal, within which each individual registers his or her uniqueness in tune with the community. Her amulets evoke the power of the group, magnifying the strength of collective union. Through the “woven grigris” presented in the “Égrégore” exhibition, Ange Dakouo refers to the strength of the group and magnifies its power.
Discover the world of animals through the art of Oumar Ball in a solo show until March 9, 2024
Following “Égrégore“, LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery hosts Oumar Ball’s first solo show in Ivory Coast. Until March 9, 2024, the Mauritanian artist will unveil an intoxicating body of work, revealing his contemporary art practice to the Ivorian public.
Born in 1985 in Bababé, in the heart of the Fouta Tooro river region, Oumar Ball is a multi-disciplinary artist whose art encompasses painting, sculpture and the creation of monumental installations. Lulled by his grandmother’s wonderful animal tales, and his father’s art practice, the artist was integrated into the artistic world at an early age with a passion for animals. His art practice has been strengthened by exchanges with other contemporary actors encountered during artistic residencies in Spain, France, Burkina Faso and Senegal.
In his discovery of the art world, Oumar Ball interweaves figurative and abstract art, weaving a harmonious link between these two worlds. In his work, wire becomes an indispensable, subtle and flexible material, which he integrates into his sculptures as well as his paintings. Using this precious tool, he assembles corrugated sheet metal, recycled metal and other elements to create captivating, immersive works that have helped him conquer the international art scene.
His “Chimère” installation won him first prize at the Biso Biennale 2021, before joining the prestigious Fondation Blachère collection. Oumar Ball also made a name for himself with a striking animal painting entitled “La Meute“, presented at the Dakar Biennale 2022. An installation in which the Mauritanian artist highlights the ferocity of everyday urban life and the human inclination to self-destruction. In his work, Oumar Ball does not seek to stylize animals. Rather, he seeks to capture and reveal the very essence of their being, to capture their authenticity without artifice.
A talented artist, Oumar Ball transcends the limits of simple animal representation, revealing through his work profound truths about human nature. He explores the eccentricity of the bond between animals and humans. This exhibition at Gallery LouiSimone Guirandou reveals his work, which communicates the poetry of the everyday, and offers a reflection on the human condition and our intimate connection with the animal world. Awakening minds and souls with creations of staggering power and singular aesthetics, Oumar Ball invites the public to take part in this unprecedented artistic journey within the LouiSimone Guirandou art space.
An artistic exploration by Sess Essoh through a revealing exhibition at LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery
Until May 03, 2024, contemporary artist Sess Essoh takes over the LouiSimone Guirandou space with his new solo exhibition. Born in 1988 in Toupah, in the Dabou region of southern Coast Ivory, Sess Essoh explores collective memory by superimposing and collaging various types of paper (newspaper, crepe, kraft, etc.) on a wooden support or canvas.
In 2012, Sess Essoh graduated from the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Abidjan. He works internationally and divides his time between Bingerville, where he has set up his studio, Marseille as part of an educational exchange program, and Dabou, his home village, where he continues his exploration of artistic creation through painting and drawing. From an early age, Sess Essoh has nurtured a passion for literature and philosophy, interests that have quietly influenced his life and artistic practice.
Through his abstract paintings, Sess Essoh interweaves the threads of sociology, the imaginary and history, creating a tangle of profound and pertinent reflections. In his work, he integrates a compendium of thoughts in reference to the means of achieving an ideal and liberation as real as it is desired. His production is divided into episodes to give a dramatic aspect to the imaginary society he has recreated, an allegory of our world, in the image of an imitation of the human comedy.
The societal universe imagined by Sess Essoh is populated by caricatured characters, such as the plaster men, ordinary individuals confronted with corruption and mediocrity, the masters of time (the Cardinals) and finally the Immortals, mediators of this great comedy. This fictional society is inspired by the social organization of the Adjoukrou people, the artist’s native ethnic group, who are deeply attached to their traditional cultural practices. With a critical approach, Sess Essoh explores his socio-political milieu, seeking to depict a society perceived as lost, having lost its bearings and values.
On unexpected supports, Sess Essoh uses carefully selected graphemes to create light silhouettes and suggest the presence of characters, figurines and masks. So, through this subtle fusion of elements presented at LouiSimonne Guirandou, the contemporary artist invites us to discover new horizons, to inscribe a new chapter in the archives of history, in the light of the questionings and reflections of the human soul.