Amadou Sanogo is one of the artist represented in the Contemporary African art Fair in London.
Les petits courant d’air d’un couple, 2010
About:
It is important that Amadou Sanogo’s paintings have no frames. He makes his canvases from lengths of workaday cloth bought in the local market, choosing not to stretch them or present them within the enclosure of a frame. This conscious distancing of his work from the Western conventions of painting speaks of his desire to identify those points of difference and similarity between the past and the present, traditional and contemporary culture, and the role of young people within this culture. The subject matter of his paintings scrutinises national and international politics, journalism and the justice system. Sanogo follows the news closely on TV5 Monde, online and in the press, and gathers images of presidents, newsreaders, and other public figures who have been corrupted by power, rendering them in powerfully expressive paint. This method of seeking his subject matter through television stems back to his earliest experience of drawing outside a television shop in his home town of Ségou, Mali.
Compagnon Spirituel, 2014.
About:
Born in 1977 in Ségou, Mali. Lives and works in Bamako, Mali.
Studied Fine Art at Bamako’s prestigious Institut National des Arts (l’INA) and Institut des Arts Plastiques.
Qui Suis Je ?, 2013.
In Mali, one man is trying to show opposing parties how to reach a compromise – through abstract painting.
The country has been torn apart by conflict since 2012.
The government, Islamists and Taureg separatist rebels all pulling in different directions.
Artist Amadou Sanogo is using his talent to portray one possible road to reconciliation.
Armed only with brushes and paints, he uses abstract art to fight narrow-mindedness and prejudice.
“I speak of events, above all events that have touched Mali. But I don’t have the same outlook as others. I am not interested in blaming others. Instead I ask myself ‘what happened to get me here?’ I ask this question because to blame other people is too easy,” Sanogo said.
Le Reflet.
Sanogo is considered one of the most promising African artists of his generation.
In the past 10 years, he has exhibited several times in France and Britain and his work can fetch up to $13,000.
But it is important for him that his works are also seen at home.
Artist Abdoulaye Konaté says Sanogo stands out among his peers.
“In his generation, I would say that for me he is really the only constant in this type of work, continuing to push the boundaries,” Konaté said.
Le Monde Journalistique, 2011.
Courtesy: Magnin-A
Paris