December 02, 2021 - March 05, 2022
Entre-Acte
Rufai Zakari | Rebecca Brodskis | Khadim Bamba
Entre-Acte
« We propose neither humanity’s Being nor its models. We are not prompted solely by the defining of our identities but by their relation to everything possible as well - the mutual mutations generated by this interplay of relations. »
- Poetics of Relation, Edouard Glissant, 1990
A multitude of characters, that come from here and elsewhere, parade under our steps, like a freeze-frame shot. Three artists are gathered: Rufai Zakari (Ghana), Rebecca Brodskis (France) and Khadim Bamba (Senegal). The explosion of colour, the eclecticism of materials, the dramatised postures: Entre-Acte may seem like a theatre play, yet the figures evoke less specific individuals than a contemporary society looking to reinvent itself. Through the recycled and compressed plastic of Rufai Zakari, the multiple textile cuts of Khadim Bamba, and the oil paintings of Rebecca Brodskis, the artists proposes an atlas of hybrid and mobile identities, archetypes redefining themselves. Figuration becomes a support on which to build and un-build systems of representation, a site where ideals, cultural and religious anchors, existential loss, as well as economical and environmental realities coexist. Entre-acte explores the tension that seizes contemporary society, torn between collective identity and individuality, homogeneity in the face of a globalised world of consumption and singularity, locality and universalization, loss of oneself and creation. Because it is through creativity and in relations with otherness, that lies a possibility of renewal for mankind.
- Jennifer Houdrouge
Artists
Rufai Zakari, Amaryan Zamani I, 2021, 159 x 127 cm
Rufai Zakari’s works, made of fragments of recycled plastic, present, in a local and urban aesthetic, elegant and fashionable figures. Similar to a photographer’s approach, the artist brings to light individuals he is familiar with or that he crosses paths with in his country. He extracts them from their tiresome daily context and repositions them in an explosion of colors striking forceful poses, inspired simultaneously by daily gesture and fashion photography.
Rebecca Brodskis, Jahia, oil on linen, 2021
Caught in quasi-absurd postures, Rebecca Brodskis’ figures embody the fleeting visions of individuals who have crossed her path, painted from memory or from her own imagination. Their well-defined silhouettes reveal, with elegance, faces filled with melancholy that offer moments of shadow and glow. With a sociological background, she draws from her experiences discovering new cities and the countless number of new faces, in order to approach new social contexts and observe relationships amongst individuals.
Khadim Bamba, Thiedo (2021)
Through an assemblage of fabrics, paint and sewing, Khadim Bamba presents characters that merge and dissolve within a decor of textiles whose traditional functions have been repurposed. As anonymous figures, these stylized figures, seemingly appear like archetypes of a Pan-African culture and question one’s malleable relation with cultural identity. He cuts, pastes, assembles and paints figures with forms inspired by the dress codes, accessories and symbols of various West African religious and ethnic groups as well as pop music, fashion and African studio photography.
Artist bio
Rufai Zakari
Conscious of the environmental urgency, Rufai Zakari essentially uses recycled plastic with the support of his community in order to create forceful figurative works.
Rufai Zakari (b.1990) is based between Accra and Bawku in Ghana. He completed his apprenticeship under Mozzay, a senior artist in Nima, Accra. In 2011, Rufai Zakari graduated from the Ghanatta College of Art and Design. In his work, Zakari examines consumerism, environmental pollution, and the perils of industrialization in contemporary Ghanian Society. In search of creative solutions to environmental issues, he founded the Rujab Eco-Art Foundation in his hometown of Bawku and bases his practise on the recycling of waste in the streets of Ghana. Zakari had a solo exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2021). Group exhibitions include Akron Museum, Ohio, USA (2021); “Devil’s in the Detail”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2020); “This Exhibition is Untitled”, Nubuke Foundation, Accra (2020); "CirculArt" Sustainable Art Exhibition by Eco Reward, Casa Trasacco Accra (2019); “World Behind the Horizon Exhibition”, Gess Gallery, Dusseldorf (2019); Sustainable Art Workshop, Merck Foundation, Dubai (2019); Sustainable Art Workshop, British High Commission, Accra (201 8 ); “Violence Against Women”, Alliance Francaise Accra (2018); "Yoomo Be Ga" Recycle Art Exhibition, Museum of Science and Technology, Accra (2017); Ghana Netherland Cultural Week Exhibition, Accra (2016); "African Champions" Mural in collaboration with (You Are For Africa), Lagos (2015).
Rufai Zakari’s work is held in important private and public collections including Arthur Lewis Collection (US) Easton Capital/John Friedman Collection (US) Nubuke Foundation, (Ghana) The Beth Rudin Dewoody Collection (US) The Ditau Collection, (South Africa) Susan Goodman Collection; VG Collection.
Rebecca Brodskis
Exploring the borders of the sensible world, Brodskis’ work evolves between conscious and unconscious spaces, leading to a reflection on the existence, the self and the otherness
Rebecca Brodskis (b. 1988 in France) lives and works in Paris. She spent most of her childhood travelling and living between France and Morocco. Brodskis studied painting at the Ateliers des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris and at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London, graduating in 2010. In 2015, she also completed a Master’s degree in Sociology, focusing her research on the themes of vulnerabilities and social crisis. Her solo exhibitions include “La Danse de l’Absurde”, Galleria Anna Marra, Rome (2021); “Arrêt Sur Image”, Kristin H j e l l e g j e r d e G a l l e r y , L o n d o n (2021); “Effet Miroir”, Septième Galerie, Paris (2020); “Tomorrow Is Another Day,” Steve Turner LA (2020); "Fragments of Life”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin (2020); Galeriste with Hors Cadre, Paris (2019);“Unsettled disorders”, Canopy Gallery, Netanya (2019); “Dépendance", Gallery Mario Kreuzberg, Berlin (2019) and “Drifting Singularities”, Sputnik Gallery, Tel Aviv (2017). Her group exhibitions include “Facing the Sun”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Schloss Görne, Germany (2021); “All the Days and Nights”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2020); “Constellations”, Galerie du 6b- St-Denis, France (2019); “Where we once were”, Yngspc (2019); “Interférence", Le Studio, Paris (2018); “Five French artists, Primitive Showroom”, Tel Aviv (2017); “Human factor”, Ori art space, Berlin (2016) and “Disfiguring, figuring the unfigurable”, Kelenföldi Erömü, Budapest (2015). Her work is held in important private and public collections which include Alan Lo Collection (Hong Kong); Museum Azman Collection (Malaysia); Pamela and David Hornik Collection (USA); The Beth Rudin Dewoody Collection (USA); Tiroche DeLeon Collection (Israel); Zeifang Collection (Germany).
Her work is held in important private and public collections which include Alan Lo Collection (Hong Kong); Museum Azman Collection (Malaysia); Pamela and David Hornik Collection (USA); The Beth Rudin Dewoody Collection (USA); Tiroche DeLeon Collection (Israel); Zeifang Collection (Germany).
Khadim Bamba
Khadim Bamba creates work that question cultural identity and evoke the the interrelationship between cultures, traditions and modernity.
Khadim Bamba (b.1991, Dakar), is a senegalese artist that lives and works in Dakar. He graduated from the school of Beaux Arts in Dakar in 2017. Khadim Bamba’s work was included in a two-person exhibition at the Institut Français in Saint Louis in Sénégal in 2021, “Let’s Talk about Art” with Urban Africa, Bamako, Mali (2021), « What about you ? » organised by Urban Africans in Cbk Zuidoost, Amsterdam, Holland (2020); Ankaria Foundation, Madrid, Spain (2020) ; 6th edition of the International du Cinéma Numérique de Cotonou (FICNC), Cotonou, Bénin (2019); 10th Salon National des Arts Visuels du Sénégal, « Seentu ou attente » at Centre culturel Blaise Senghor, Dakar, Sénégal (2019); 8th edition of “Festival Africain d’Images Virtuelles et Artistiques” (FAIVA) in Bamako , Mali (2019) ; and « SISOOAGA » organized by the association Jeunes A r t i s t e s d ’ A v e n i r ( J A A ) i n Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (2018), amongst others. He has also been nominated for the Kuenyehia Art Prize (Accra, Ghana) in 2021 and for the Ellipse