May 20 2021 - July 31 2021
Autumn Ahn & Arébénor Basséne
Mots de neige, histoires en sable
An oversight and a reminiscence.
A trace is such that it never reveals itself entirely.
Memories from childhood, the confused dreams in the morning, the remains found underground…all carry a missing part, a constant threat of erasure. It is the rebellious past that refuses itself to the inquisitive present.
When opening an old drawer of a house, wandering off in a street cherished by childhood, leafing through an old history book from school…the past infiltrates itself instantaneously.
But memories, like words, often flee away, and others erupt without invitation. The vacillations of our minds give them the color of the day, too.
In fact, History often dissolves in a multiplicity of stories.
Personal tales, imagined scenarios and collective memory interweave with one another.
What is the purpose of poetic imagination? Some would answer “nothing.” They would perhaps be right, it serves to nothingness.
And nothingness is full.
It is within the cracks of our knowledge, that universes are raised. A little bit like those of Autumn Ahn & Arébénor Basséne.
Curated by Jennifer Houdrouge
Selebe Yoon is pleased to present a two-person exhibition by American-Korean Artist Autumn Ahn and Senegalese artist Arébénor Basséne as a result of a 5-weeks residency in the venue. From drawings, paintings, sculptures, soundscapes and site-specific interventions, “Mots de neige, histoires en sable” (Words of snow, histories in sand) inquires on memory’s malleable and fragile nature, and the poetics of imagination in the face of an incomplete History or stories.
Exhibition views
Artists
Autumn Ahn
AUTUMN AHN (1986, Philadelphia, USA) is an American artist that works across mediums from performance art to painting
She studied oil painting and art history at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts and also at the Scuola Internazionale de Grafica in Venice, Italy. In addition, she was a Visiting Fellow as an artist-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Philosophy. Her solo exhibitions include, Between pink & blue is Catharanthus Roseus at Galerie 0fr., Paris (2019), a tall action is not a height at The Chimney NYC (2017), Untitled (Chamber), AIDS ACTION COMMITTEE & Alter Projects, Art Basel-Miami (2014), Latent Lavender at Ryan Lee Gallery, NYC (2014), Voy(age)ur at STREAM Gallery, NYC (2014). She has also participated in group exhibitions with her pieces, pavement over pavement at HUBWeek for Boston’s Government Center, CASTLEDRONE CORRAL (2017), “everyoneineverforgot, fig. 1-3” at Cinema Tonalá and Fería ARTBo for The Host, Bogotá (2016), “Anunnciate” at Montserrat College of Art & Design for SEVEN, Boston (2016), Sensational Stanzas at École du Magazine (Centre National d’Art Contemporain), for TakeYouThereRadio, Grenoble/r22.fr (2015). She was the recipient of a Boston Opportunity Grant, Createwell Artist Grant, and a Constantin Alajalov Scholarship. Her work has been reviewed on Whitehot Magazine, The Boston Globe, ARTE, Art New England. She currently lives in Massachusetts researching plant life and the metaphysical imagination. She has just announced a publication artwork with Print Aint Dead, a boston-based Black Feminist Library. She is in a cohort of artist advisors for a new BIPoc/QT artist residency at MassMoCA.
Arébénor Basséne
Inspired by the history of past civilisations, Arébénor Basséne (b.1974, Senegal) integrates writings, symbols and abstract forms in his work.
Arébénor Basséne (b. 1974, Sénégal) holds a Masters in african civilizations and literature from the University Cheikh Anta Diop (2012-2013), a double bachelor from the same university in English and African Civilizations (2010-2011), and a diploma from National Art School of Dakar et un diplôme d'études supérieures artistiques à l'École Nationale des Arts du Sénégal (1997-2001). In Senegal, his work has been selected in the official selection of the international exhibition of the Dak’art Biennial organized by Simon Njami in 2016; in the exhibition “Junction” at the IFAN museum in Dakar (2017); « Regards sur cours » at the Gorée Institute (2017); at Galerie Atiss in Dakar (2017) ; at the 9ème salon national des artistes plasticiens (2011), at the Cheikh Anta Diop’s First Memorial at the Centre Culturel Français (1995), amongst others. He has received the Minister of Culture prize for the exhibition "Salon National des artistes plasticiens du Sénégal" in 2011. In addition, he received UEMOA prize –« prix de l'Union économique et monétaire de l'Afrique de l'Ouest » on the occasion of the Dak'Art biennial in 2016. Internationally, Arébénor Basséne participated in a group exhibition at the Allianxe Française in Addis-Abeba, Ethiopia (2017) and at the Galerie Gery in Namur, Belgium (2016).Arébénor Basséne works and lives in Dakar, Senegal.