ART FAIR - 1-54, London
Arébénor Basséne
INFORMATIONS
Somerset House, London
October 14-16th, 2022 (VIP Preview: October 13)
Booth S16
We are pleased to announce our first participation at the 1-54 African Art Fair, which will be held from October 13 - October 16th 2022 at Somerset House in London. For this edition, we will be presenting a solo booth with senegalese artist Arébénor Basséne.
1-54 London 2022
Dates and Time
Press and VIP Preview
11 - 6 PM Thursday 13th October
Public opening hours
10-7PM Friday 14th October
10-7PM Saturday 15th October
10-7PM Sunday 16th October
Fascinated by ancient civilizations, whether dreamed of or forgotten, from the great empires of Africa to those of the Mediterranean, it is nevertheless the stuttering of history that gives birth to his artistic practice, built as imaginary witnesses of the past. The ancient sources and materials, such as parchments or archaeological remains, question our conditions of accessing history - that of the original face of a ghostly Africa buried under the dust of past centuries. Arébénor Basséne draws inspiration from the first African migrations to Andalusia, as well as the prior ancient Egypt recounted by Cheikh Anta Diop, and the West African culture.
Arébénor Basséne, The Night Fighters, 2022, Acrylic, natural pigment and graphite on canvas 203 x 161 CM
© Courtesy of Selebe Yoon
The Night Fighters ('Les Combattants de la Nuit’) made of acrylic painting and natural pigments using the batik technique - a new process employed by the artist, during which the canvas is immersed in various dye baths that give it its ochre tones and worn appearance. Several human forms emerge from the work: bodies seem to undergo a metamorphosis and blur in the center of a mass of material, anchored in the ground, while an upright bust rises above the melee. As a horizon emerges in the distance, punctuated by hills, reverberations of water are visible in the foreground, like a direct reaction of the landscape to the quasi-fantastic transformations of the figures. This work refers to the Diola and Mandingue mythology of Casamance, inspired in particular by the figure of Kumpo (guarantor of order and justice) which is both a mask - made from the fibres of the rood tree - and a dance performed in the moonlight to call upon the spirit which then emerges from the forest where it usually remains.
Arébénor Basséne Solstice I, 2022 Acrylic, natural pigments, ink, graphite on canvas 100 x 100 cm
© Courtesy of Selebe Yoon
Solstices is a series of works on paper mounted on canvas, presented in sets of twelve. Using the batik technique for dyeing papers, traditionally reserved for fabrics, Arébénor Basséne superimposes layers of materials - natural pigments, wax, ink, sawdust - on the dyed papers. Inspired by ancient writings, children's scribbles, archaeological finds or rock engravings, her works are scattered with abstract forms and figurative fragments. Cartographic motifs, aquatic or vegetal elements follow one another like objects of study. Cracks and textural folds give rise to raw visions of material such as rock strata, geological faults, earth and sand - visions that evoke West African landscapes. As our gaze moves from one unit to the next, microscopic visions of earth materials are transformed into macro perspectives of geographical areas, relief representations, deltas, desert dunes and river marks. Like an archive where only a few cultural, historical and linguistic clues survive on the surface, the figures become exhausted in a landscape of texture. Each piece carries the illusion of history's erosion, swept away by time.
About Arébénor Basséne
From Southern Senegal in Casamance, Arébénor Basséne (b.1974, Dakar) holds a master's degree in African civilizations and literature (2012-2013), a double degree in English and African civilizations (2010-2011) from Cheikh Anta Diop University and is a graduate of the National School of Arts of Senegal (1997-2001). He is regularly invited to exhibit his work in Senegal and gained an international reputation over the years. In 2022, he was selected in the official selection of the Biennale to represent the Senegalese Pavilion at the Museum of Black Civilizations, curated by Massamba Mbaye, for which he won the City Council Prize. In 2016, he was selected by curator Simon Njami to be part of the official exhibition of the Dak'Art Biennale and won the UEMOA prize - West African Economic and Monetary Union. His work has also been shown at the “Mots de Neige, Histoires en Sable” at Selebe Yoon Gallery, Dakar (2021); "Junction" exhibition at the IFAN Museum (2017); "Regards sur cours" at the Gorée Institute (2017); at the Atiss Gallery in Dakar (2017); at the 9th National Salon of Plastic Artists (2011) where he received the Ministry of Culture's prize; at the first Cheikh Anta Diop memorial at the French Cultural Centre (1995) amongst others. His work has also been featured in group exhibitions in the OFF of the Havana Biennale, Cuba (2019); the Alliance Française in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, (2017), at the Galerie Gery in Namur, Belgium (2016), “Le Sénégal à Paris” présenté par la Maison de l’Afrique à la rotonde de Montparnasse (2011). Arébénor Basséne is nominated for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize with an upcoming exhibition in 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa.