Fair - ARCOmadrid 2025
Mélinda Fourn, [detail], 2024. Tea bags, tea leaves, thread.
5-9 Mars 2025, IFEMA, Madrid
Selebe Yoon is pleased to announce its first participation at ARCOmadrid - OPENING Section with a duo presentation by artists Arébénor Basséne (b. 1974, Senegal) and Mélinda Fourn (b. 1995, France).
Arébénor Basséne gradually builds up dynamic surfaces by using a various array of materials - gum arabic, ink, henna, natural pigments, glue, sand and paints. For him, the materials he chooses tell their own story: from the gum arabic, named the “golden powder” in the 18th and 19th century by the colons, to the ink used for Koranic tablets, each material has its own identity. With each stroke, Basséne brings forth figures from the layers he assembles on paper or on canvas, ghostly witnesses of a time long gone or endless travellers roaming in the eternity. Blue Solstice I (2023), a work composed of 12 canvases, highlights Basséne’s passion for history and storytelling, suggesting an imaginary crossing. He draws inspiration from the first African migrations to Andalusia, as well as Ancient Egypt as recounted by Cheikh Anta Diop, and his family’s Diola culture. His works aim to create an Odyssey through the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Sahel but erasing any and all geographical landmarks, letting the spectator to find his own way.
Mélinda Fourn pays tribute to the West African craft skills such as sewing, weaving, braiding or jewellery in her newest hanging pieces made from tea bags, coffee Touba cotton bags (a strong and spicy coffee brew sold at every street corner in Senegal), and disposable water bags (collected between Togo and Ghana). Each piece is carefully sewn together. Alternating between filled and emptied bags, the works evoke the shapes of Ghanaian fabrics such as Kenté, and the fragrant odour of coffee or tea calls to mind a sensory experience in West Africa. Fourn falls within a global praxis of African and Afro-diasporic artists repurposing and recycling of overlooked waste into pieces of history, a reflection on consumer and social behaviour. Addressing the question of heritage, the transmission of traditional know-hows and issues related to the body, jewelry and ornamentation play an important role in the artist's sculptural works. For the first time, Fourn includes embroidery in her practice, as it is an important part of clothing in Senegal. The traditional “boubou”, made of Bazin cloth, features meticulously embroidered collars and sleeves. However in this case, the ornamental craft is used to embellish used plastic water bags: she confronts the most widespread and industrialised material to a craftsmanship transmitted from generations.
Together, Arébénor Basséne and Mélinda Fourn create a space for the wandering eye - and mind - to contemplate the place of the past and traditions in the present world.
OPENING HOURS ARCOmadrid
Wednesday March 5, 2025 | 11:00 - 20:00 (upon invitation)
Thursday March 6, 2025 | 12:00 - 20:00 (upon invitation)
Friday March 7, 2025 | 12:00 - 15:00 (upon invitation) | 15:00 - 20:00 (public)
Saturday March 8, 2025 | 12:00 - 20:00 (public)
Sunday March 9, 2025 | 12:00 - 18:00 (public)
Location
IFEMA MADRID – Recinto Ferial, Av. Partenón 5, 28042 Madrid
Pavilions
Connection core 5-7, Connection core 7-9, Hall 7, Hall 9