PRESS RELEASE

“(NOT SO) STILL LIVES”

GOPAL DAGNOGO

(Ivory Coast – Painting)

19th April - 31st May 2015

March 2015

Galería Out of Africa

Carrer Major 7 – Carrer Nou

08870 Sitges (Barcelona)

www.galeria-out-of-africa.com – sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com - +34 618 356 351

Gopal Dagnogo - Ivory Coast, 1973 - Painter

Gopal Dagnogo – Still life with undulating elements, 2013 Acrylic and pastels on canvas 100 x 100 cm

(NOT SO) STILL LIVES

Opening April 19th and showing until the 31st May

2015, Out of Africa gallery of Sitges (Barcelona) hosts

“(Not so) Still Lives”, an exhibition of recent work by

Ivory Coast painter Gopal Dagnogo.

Gopal Dagnogo, Abidjan 1973, was born into an artistic family.

With an Ivorian father and a French mother who was a teacher

at the Abidjan School of Fine Arts, to which all three brothers

were sent, it was only natural that Gopal should paint.

Moving to Bordeaux in 1991 to obtain his BA in Fine Art and

following posterior studies of Japanese, he feels an even

stronger urge to continue to paint and sculpt. In 1997 Dagnogo

returns to Africa and lives in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Here

he learns the skills of the traditional bronze artists and exhibits

his work in the French Cultural Centre of the capital.

He returns to France in 2000 and moves to Paris in 2001 where

for the lack of a studio he must stop painting temporarily. In

2007 he is invited to the “Festival Les Afrikales » in Normandy

where the association Art Plume de Saint-Lô, offers him a

studio and residency which continues until 2009.

In September 2011 Dagnogo sets up studio in Vincennes in the

outskirts of Paris, where he works and showcases his art. He is

represented by various European galleries, among them Eric

Dumont of Troyes, No Smoking of Strasbourg, Reg’art-

confrontations of Rouen and Galerie Le Sud of Zürich.

Spotted at Dak’Art 2014 Biennial of Contemporary Art, by the

Out of Africa gallery, Gopal Dagnogo is currently preparing his

first exhibition for the Spanish public.

Gopal Dagnogo – End of reign 3, 2013 - Acrylic and pastels on canvas – 150 x 150 cm

Gopal Dagnogo – Animal farm nº3, 2013 - Acrylic and pastels on canvas – 120 x 100 cm

Gopal invents his own vision of the world

Following various creative stays in Burkina Faso, the artist finds

his roots and synthetizes his Occidental and African cultures,

integrating the dimension of the sacred as an inner need to

question its relationship with the world.

Dagnogo uses his unique palette of vibrant yet soft colours to

create his own vision of the world using an invented lyrical

imagery that challenges a conscience critical of reality.

Memory, conscience, recollections; the confused images are

layered, superimposed; they clash and are sometimes isolated.

The artist revisits a form of still life where objects and

improbable ideas are in confrontation, little daily scenes in

which a pair of Converse sneakers dialogue with a Louis XV

chair, red mullet are stretched out beside soda cans, wallpaper

is invited to the table.

Dagnogo creates an overlay of contemporary mythology (a

projection of imaginary values about a social phenomenon or

on consumer goods) to underline in an increasingly policed,

more violent and less tolerant world, the internal

contradictions and paradoxes that hammer his conscience into

action.

By means of his choice of colours and materials, the artist

conveys his contemporary vision of Africa. Gopal's sensual

painting rich in colour and emotion invites the viewer to caress

textures and the incrusted objects.

Gopal Dagnogo – Appetizer 'vache qui rit', 2013

Acrylic and pastels on canvas - 41 x 33 cm

Gopal Dagnogo – Still life and soluble coffee, 2013

Acrylic and pastels on canvas

Figuration and abstraction

Dagnogo's paintings are often large-scale works and full of

colour.

Figuration and abstraction wrestle for predominance. The

canvases are painted in layers with a high degree of

transparency. Sometimes the figurative elements are painted

on lower layers, but then sometimes these are on top. The

bottom layers always remain visible. This not only enables him

to bring depth into his work, but also confers mystery.

Partially hidden behind or above the carefree brushstrokes

objects or animals can be seen, the presence of which is not

always immediately evident. Sneakers, sandals, Louis XV

furniture, chickens, liquor bottles, glasses, beer cans, ketchup

and Tabasco bottles... sometimes the object is just outlined,

other times it is fully coloured in. Cryptic texts may be

distinguished on occasion, dimly filtering through.

For Dagnogo, these everyday objects have a meaning; they are

symbols of a society and make reference to his country of

origin, Ivory Coast. The history of his country since

independence has seen the enormous gap between rich and

poor grow, the violence that has ravaged the country, the

almost permanent war between the people in power and

those who have nothing. Gopal paints a consumer society that

benefits a privileged few, a society that places possessions

above true human values, violence over civilisation,

intolerance before respect. This social context gives a very

personal relevance to the objects featured in his paintings.

Gopal 's work carries a charge of personal history, however by

also embracing abstraction, his canvases have a universal

appeal.

For more information, kindly contact:

Sorella Acosta

Galería Out of Africa

www.galeria-out-of-africa.com

sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com

Tel.: +34 618 356 351

Solo Exhibitions

2014

• Galerie Manufacture 45, Rouen

• Galerie Eric Dumont, Troyes

2012

• Council of the European Parliament,

Strasbourg

• Galerie Diversity, Abidjan

• Galerie No Smoking, Strasbourg

• Galerie Reg’Arts Confrontations, Rouen

2011

• Galerie Reg’art Confrontations, Rouen

• Galerie Le Sud, Zürich

• Galerie Cyème, Paris

2010

• Galerie No Smoking, Strasbourg

• Galerie Kunstwerkraum, Winterthur, Suisse

2009

• Moulin du Roc, National Stage of Niort

2006

• Espace Gondwana, Ouagadougou, Burkina

Faso

• Carrefour des Arts, Brecey

2002

• Galerie Escalier Rouge, Ouagadougou,

Burkina Faso

1998

• Galerie Zaka, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Group Exhibitions

2014

• Dak’art, 11th Biennial of Contemporary Art,

Dakar, Senegal

• Art OMI Residency, Ghent, Nueva York, USA

• 1st Biennial of Kampala, Finalists Exhibition,

Kampala, Uganda

• 5th International Maiden Tour Festival, Baku,

Azerbaijan

2013

• Cotroceni National Museum, Bucharest, Romania

• International Biennial of Painting of Chisinau, Moldavia

• UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France

• UNESCO regional office, Venice, Italy

• Arkadi, 17th edition, French Institute of Abidjan

2012

• Andorra Art Camp 2012, sponsored by UNESCO, Andorra

• Sheraton Hotel Kuwait City, sponsored by the Ministry of

Information of Kuwait

• artÄf la frontiera artelor, Romanian Cultural Institute,

Budapest, Hungary

• International Painting Symposium, Herczeg Foundation,

Garana 2012, Romania

• 7th Edition Totem International Exhibition, Târgu Mures,

Romania

2011

• International Symposium Ostraka Art Festival, Sharm el-

Sheikh, Egypt

• Timisoara Art Museum, Romania, organized by the Rubin

Foundation

• Timisoara Art Museum, International Painting Symposium,

Garana 2011

• Arts event in « Les passerelles », organized by the town of

Pontault-Combault (Awarded 1st Prize in the category of

Professional Artists & Students of Fine Art), France

2010

• « 7 capital sins » Galerie No Smoking, Strasbourg

• Symposium « Taches-Tâches », Saint-Lô, France

2009

• Galerie Le Sud, Zurich, Switzerland

• Triptyque, Angers Town Hall, France

• Galerie Pierre-Michel D., Paris, France

2008

• Les Essentiels, Saint-Lô Cultural Centre, France

2007

• Maif Exhibition Hall, Niort, France

• Autumn show, Town Hall, 11th Arrondissement, Paris, France

• Les Nouvelles Métamorphoses, La Mothe St-

Héray & St-Marc-La-Lande, France

2005

• Church of St Sauveur, Caen, invited to “Les

Afrikales” Festival, France

• Musée des arts derniers, Paris, France

• Galerie Pierre-Michel D., Paris, France

2000

• Lucie Faure Hall, National Assembly, Paris,

France

1999

• Exhibition « der Brücke », Mannheim,

Germany

1998

• French Cultural Institute, Ouagadougou,

Burkina Faso

• Symposium « Translacje », Art Collection of

the end of the century, Piotrkow Tribunalsky,

Poland

1995

• Sifcom Comafrique Award, Exhibition in the

French Cultural Institute of Abidjan, Ivory Coast