The Melrose Gallery presents Unfinished Symphony, a solo exhibition by renowned Ivorian artist Pascal Konan, running until March 9, 2025. Curated by Mpumi Mayisa, this exhibition eloquently explores resilience, transformation, and continuity within Africa’s ever-evolving urban landscapes. Through a unique combination of mixed media and fragmented figuration, Pascal Konan offers a subtle commentary on African identity, the challenges, and opportunities brought by modernity.
Pascal Konan’s Vision: A City of Contrasts
Pascal Konan invites viewers into a world teeming with life and contrast, inspired by his personal experiences and observations of African urban life. His work pulses with the rhythm of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s economic capital, where he grew up. His compositions depict bustling streets, crowded public spaces, and the perpetual motion of individuals, interspersed with moments of stillness and contemplation.
His color palette juxtaposes vibrant hues with muted tones, symbolizing both the city’s energy and the fleeting moments that define it. His play with light and shadow and the ambiguity of forms reflect the physical and psychological realities of African urban life.
The originality of Pascal Konan’s work lies in his innovative use of materials. Denim, acrylic paint, Chinese ink, and recycled electronic waste are not merely artistic mediums but symbols of the urban environment he portrays. Denim, often associated with the working class, represents resilience and hard work, shaping the city’s social fabric. Acrylic paint captures the vibrancy of daily life, while his incorporation of recycled materials underscores themes of transformation and the fragility of modern life.
Through this approach, Pascal Konan establishes a dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity. His work reflects the continuous evolution of African cities, where history, technology, and humanity intersect. More than just visual representations, his pieces question, critique, and invite viewers to reflect on change, memory, and identity within the contemporary African context.
Unfinished Symphony is more than a visual experience—it is a meditation on resilience. Drawing inspiration from his own childhood in Abidjan’s underprivileged neighborhoods, Pascal Konan highlights the struggles and survival that define urban existence in Africa. Through fragmented figuration, he examines the fluidity of identity, particularly in relation to the spaces it occupies—whether public or private, traditional or modern.
For Pascal Konan, African cities, like their inhabitants, are in a constant state of flux. The urban environment is never static; it is a site of physical and emotional transformations. His street scenes pose a fundamental question: How do we navigate these ever-changing spaces, and how do our identities evolve within them? The answer lies in the “unfinished symphony” of our collective journey, an ongoing work in progress.
Exploring Identity and Collective Memory
At the core of Pascal Konan’s work is a deep reflection on identity—both individual and collective. Through Unfinished Symphony, he captures the complexity of an increasingly urbanized world, where modernity and tradition coexist in a dynamic tension. The artist draws from his childhood in Abidjan’s working-class neighborhoods, where the contrast between wealth and poverty is omnipresent, and where the city’s heartbeat never ceases.
The figures he paints emphasize the importance of individuals in shaping the social fabric. Whether caught in the crowd’s chaos or lost in introspection, each character represents an essential facet of the city. In this sense, Pascal Konan’s work is both a celebration and a critique of the individual’s role in shaping Africa’s collective destiny. His work challenges viewers to question their own place within these constantly evolving spaces, where identities are continuously redefined by various influences.
A Career Marked by Innovation
Pascal Konan has established himself as a major figure in contemporary African art. A graduate of Abidjan’s National School of Fine Arts, he has exhibited in major cities such as Beirut, Marrakech, and Paris, where his work has been praised for its innovative approach and incisive social critique.
Beyond his artistic career, Pascal Konan is also a painting instructor at the School of Fine Arts in Abidjan, passing on his knowledge to the next generation of artists. His commitment to art education ensures that his influence will extend well beyond this exhibition.
Winner of the UEMOA Prize at the 10th DAK’ART Biennale in 2012 and the Christian Latier Prize in 2014, he has received multiple awards that recognize his impact on the international art scene and his dedication to meaningful artistic practice.