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The latest exhibition by Senegalese painter and sculptor Soly Cissé presents a selection of his recent work unified by the representation of bodily forms and aligned to questions about what is it that makes us human, after all.

Men and Lives sees this contemporary master interrogating some of the darker reaches of the psyche, though, as ever with Cissé's work, imbued with humour and irony. His paintings sometimes show groupings of two or three figures who seem to be refraining from conversation or interaction, as though consumed by their own thoughts or search for some hoped-for "inner identity" not accessible to others. At other times he reveals a seeming procession of human forms, some overlapping and some set apart; again, each element stands apart even as they enter each other's space. In some paintings, the canvas is divided into two registers or segment, at once seeming to be in conflict but nonetheless harmonised aesthetically, as if the artist is seeking for an impossible unity between fraught human relations.

Cissé's incomparable understanding of the relation of line to the fulfilment of form (as well as a subtle use of detail in the form of pattern and crosshatch) can be seen in the works on Men and Lives. At over four metres wide, the astonishing canvas Untitled (Triptych) of 2018 shows the artist developing this subtle message of the relationship between the human and the lived at a magisterial level and forms a central axis for the exhibition as a whole.

Al Arab Magazine

Contemporary art transcends the tradition of skill, style and rules of the continent

By Dr Charafdine Majdouline PUBLISHED 12 June 2019 (Page 15)

Translated from Arabic with Google Translate

Art is linked to an emergency cultural perception connected to the exploits of the consuming society and the chaotic market system

Human creativity and art are no longer dependent on the identity of the identity, but rather on a common denominator, especially with the emergence of the global citizen, following the spread of globalization that created similar societies. Thus, an art that does not place its first bet on identity within its traditional borders appears to be trying to evade all that hinders its universality and its dimensions, issues and methods.

In his book on contemporary art, British historian and art historian Julian Estelabras used a comparative comparison between contemporary art, the market economy and the globalized system, where freedom is irrational and unchecked. 

Slipstream - UK - Arts Press

SOLY CISSE: Men and Lives – Sulger Buel Gallery

By Eddie Saint-Jean POSTED 10 June 2019

Senegalese painter and sculptor Soly Cissé presents a body of work which drives expressive channels through figurative subjects – with a tilt towards abstraction. Humour, irony and, of course, colour are underscored emphatically.

The work is an examination of human relations and the human psyche. His subjects are herded in conversation, yet set apart in individual worlds with the inevitable overlap displayed through this ‘Expressive’ use of colour.

Sulger-Buel Gallery, 51 Surrey Row, Unit 2 La Gare, London SE1 0BZ. Exhibition runs 06 June – 31 July 2019.

The New York Times - Art & Design

Kehinde Wiley, Spoiler of Artists

By Dionne Searcey POSTED 4 June 2019

He gained fame for his portrait of President Obama. Now he is opening Black Rock, a luxurious residency program in Senegal.

DAKAR, Senegal - The art star Kehinde Wiley is standing in the middle of his spacious bedroom with mint green walls looking like a little kid who can't wait to blurt out the surprise he's been keeping secret.

Everything in his new Black Rock studio and artists' residence in Dakar is fabulous, of course. The 20-foot wooden entry door, the floor-to-ceiling windows, the infinity pool, the sauna, the bath robes and alarm clocks embossed with the Black Rock golden insignia, the lush garden in a region tucked under the Sahara.

In addition, there are thick layers or blobs of paint, chaotic brushstrokes and script - letters and numbers which serve to transmit tension and intrigue while possibly telegraphing arcane hermetic messages.

"I think and reflect a lot about humans and their relationships. Relationships between humans, the confrontation between humans and nature, humans and religion and then I challenge myself and experiment", he explains.

Cissé came of age after violent political unrest had hit Dakar and a new future was being negotiated in a piecemeal manner.

The YMA is a travelling group exhibition that represents young Moroccan artists working in different media and concepts that are inspired by their own unique environments. The exhibition commences at the Sulger-Buel Gallery in London in May 2019 with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in the United Kingdom and will then be transported to the KFW-DEG Bank in Cologne in June 2019 as part of their cultural program which had invited Morocco as the feature country this year.

The exhibition aims at fostering a young Moroccan contemporary art scene through a multidisciplinary exhibition of artists from the same generation. The goal of the exhibition is to showcase young creative talent and the artist's sensibilities as both African and global citizens.

Participating Artists include: ELIASSAA, Nafie Ben Krich, Nasrine Kheltent, Madiha Sebbani, Mohamed Saïd Chair, Rachid Ouhnni

Vivien Kohler r3: FORM4re Solo Exhibition

Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg

06 June - 06 July 2019

Opening Reception: Thursday 6 June 2019, 18:00 - 21:00

Gallery MOMO is proud to present its first solo show by Vivien Kohler

“I am fascinated both by the ability of the human spirit to transcend ‘the conceptual decay’, and the unique liminality of the post-apartheid South African city. My works illuminate the contrasts of lived experiences by showing people mentally cocooned from, yet physically enveloped by, life’s detritus. I incorporate, cast, and paint discarded packaging material as a signifier of transience, migration, and displacement of people on the ‘periphery.’

Circumstances do not define individuals and communities where immense complexities and layers exist. From badlands, esteemed, revered, and adored individuals have bloomed. I am driven to restructure the residue, to find meaning within the chaos and build on the inherent positivity, optimism and history that emanate and flow from the cracks. These works are an explorative redefining of the identity of people in this place called home." - Vivien Kohler

Young Moroccan Artists exhibition to visit London gallery

Elite Living Africa

An eclectic collection of different concepts and mediums, the YMA (Young Moroccan Artists) exhibition is coming to London’s Sulger-Buel Gallery this month with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in the UK.

London’s Sulger-Buel Gallery has been responsible for collecting and studying African art since 2014, with its creator Christian Sulger-Buel gaining experience in the field over more than 30 years. With this in mind the travelling YMA exhibition encapsulate the wide range of art being created by upcoming Moroccan artists, with each artist taking inspiration from their unique environments and upbringing for a vast and extensive visual journey.

Among the artists featuring in the exhibition is Nafie Ben Krich. Born in 1988 in the northern city of Tetouan, Nafle is a connoisseur of the absurd and tragic, poking fun at modern consumerism through his drawings and sculptures. One of his strangest and most mesmerising works, Chicken Ball II (pictured above), utilises chicken feathers and gold leaf on polyester mould to create headless and wingless hens: a careful blend of ridiculous and luxurious which is, in equal parts, beautiful and very strange.

Symposium: Race, Power & Culture

BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts

Studio, 23 Rue Ravenstein, Brussels 1000

22 - 24 May 2019

A critical look at Belgian Cultural Institutions 

With this Symposium, BOZAR holds its last event in the framework of the project Dis-Othering: Beyond Afropolitan and Other labels. This introduction day aims at framing the event within the context of this Creative Europe Project. We will discuss the different ways in which 'Othering' and 'Dis-Othering' practices are present in Belgian and European Cultural Domain. A particluar attention will be given to the Dis-Othering research Mapping Diversities.

The Symposium is spread over three days:

Day 1: Dis-Othering: beyond Afropolitan & Other Labels

Day 2: Cultural Institutions as a matter of contention

Day 3: Afro-what? Whiteness and the categorization of the 'Other'

Multiple Transmissions: Art in the Afropolitan Age 

Curated by Sandrine Colard

WIELS Contemporary Art Centre

25 May - 18 August 2019

Opening reception: 24 May 2019, 20:00 - 22:00

The exhibition Multiple Transmissions: Art in the Afropolitan Age, takes as its starting point the group of African artists who completed residences at WIELS between 2015 and 2019. Today an integral component of the art world landscape, residencies put artists in motion around the globe, while simultaneously immersing them in one place for a definite period of time. Artists, and African artists in particular, have become successive locals of multiple places and cities: they have become “Afropolitan” artists. Mainly developed by the thinker Achille Mbembe, the concept refers to the transnational cultures and aesthetic of 21st century African-identified urbanites. Both on and off the continent, these artists’ mental and physical itinerancies have made their mental geographies radically plural. Created between Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Johannesburg and Brussels, the residents’ productions are presented alongside a range of other art practices enmeshed in these global flows.

Participating Artists include: Nelson Makengo, Jean Katambayi, Georges Senga, Sinzo Aanza, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Emeka Ogboh, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum and Pélagie Gbaguidi.

Al Araby TV Network - Shubak Program

Al Araby TV Network Interviews curator Madiha Sebbani about 'YMA (Young Moroccan Artists)' Group Exhibition

Aired Live on Al Araby TV Network - 20 May 2019, 17:00 GMT

The YMA is a travelling group exhibition that represents young Moroccan artists working in different media and concepts that are inspired by their own unique environments. The exhibition commences at the Sulger-Buel Gallery in London in May 2019 with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in the United Kingdom and will then be transported to the KFW-DEG Bank in Cologne in June 2019 as part of their cultural program which had invited Morocco as the feature country this year.

The exhibition aims at fostering a young Moroccan contemporary art scene through a multidisciplinary exhibition of artists from the same generation. The goal of the exhibition is to showcase young creative talent and the artist's sensibilities as both African and global citizens.

Filam(a)nt
Fondation Blachere Art Centre
23 May - 05 October 2019
Opening reception: Thursday 23 May 2019, from 18:30

Core-yarn / core yarn: spun yarn with a core, usually yarn continuous filaments.

For this new summer exhibition, the Blachère Foundation proposes to explore arcana of the thread, the weaving, the link, the braiding. 

"Filam (a) nt" presents a selection of contemporary textile works by African artists, men and women, made in creative residences, kindly loaned by galleries or acquired for the Blachère Collection.

Each artist leaves fragments of their soul in their works, weaves a little of themselves into the canvas. The pieces presented are delicate, detailed, imposing, finely woven or roughly plaited, singular, with each other, telling the life that each artist breathes into each of his works.

From thread to soul to light, there is only one step. Real DNA of the Blachère company Illumination, it is the very soul. Thanks to the light wire, the creation of decorations knows no limits, except those of the imaginary, which it is pleasant to exceed non-stop.