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Opening September 5th and showing until the 31st October 2015, Out of Africa gallery of Sitges (Barcelona) hosts Spirits of the Forest, an exhibition of naïve paintings by Ivory Coast painter Idrissa Diarra and sculptures by Belgian artist Jean Claude
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Out of Africa Gallery
Carrer Major, 7 - Carrer Nou - 08870 Sitges (Barcelona) – Spain -
www.galeria-out-of- africa.com - [email protected] - +34 618 356 351
IDRISSA DIARRA Ivory Coast – Painting
JEAN CLAUDE
Belgium - Sculpture
SPIRITS OF THE FOREST
FROM THE 10/9 TO THE 31/10/2015
Spirits of the forest
Idrissa Diarra (1969- 2015) – Grand Bassam – Ivory Coast –
Naïve painting
Jean Claude (1950) – Belgium – Sculptor and writer
Opening September 5th and showing until the 31st October 2015, Out of Africa gallery of Sitges (Barcelona) hosts Spirits of the Forest, an exhibition of naïve paintings by Ivory Coast painter Idrissa Diarra and sculptures by Belgian artist Jean Claude.
Guided by the work of these two artists hailing from
very different cultures, we shall penetrate the
shadows of the tropical rainforest to make direct
contact with its most secret inhabitants, the spirits
of the forest. A cultural exchange between two
worlds, two continents that are however, united by
a love of nature.
Opening Saturday 12 September at 8pm with the
participation of the artist Jean Claude .
There will be flute concert and a cava cocktail will be
served.
In a career spanning almost thirty years, Idrissa
Diarra's work has focused on three main aspects:
social matters, be it a poster for artisans or
educational panels; cultural traditions from around
Ivory Coast; and lush tropical forest landscapes
adorned with wild animals and birds.
Diarra's work is remarkable for its intensity, level of
detail, abundance of illustration and complexity. From
the four corners of Ivory Coast, the artist observes
nature while also studying local traditions and
customs. Born in northern Ivory Coast, artist Idrissa
Diarra (Tomikoro, 1969) did not have the opportunity
to learn at school. The French that Diarra writes and
speaks was picked up in the school of life, prior to
enrolling in the Conservatoire Regional Des Arts et
Metiers d'Abengourou.
Created as a means for social reintegration through
art, this school arose from the generous imagination
of French aid worker Bieth and is undoubtedly Ivory
Coast's temple of Naïve art, producing artists of
international recognition such as: Augustin Kassy,
Zéhirin, Losseni and Idrissa Diarra.
Idrissa Diarra – « Les lions» - 2015 – 100cm H x 150cm W – Acrylic on canvas
Idrissa Diarra – “Le repos du chasseur” – 2013 – 187cm H x 139cm W – Acrylic on canvas
Idrissa Diarra – “Le boulanger” - 2015
Taught by copying all kinds of paintings, with orders coming from Abidjan and also originating in Europe, these artists, following in Losseni's footsteps, made a commitment to represent daily themes that surrounded them in their lives and they progressively gave free reign to their imagination. Following a highly successful exhibition in the Abidjan Sofitel in 1986, the group of artists was encouraged and reaffirmed in their choice of direction.
From that moment, Idrissa Diarra never stopped working. He gained confidence in his technique and his work has become an essential part of his life: day after day he creates images inspired by what he sees and feels, producing canvases with meticulous care, an essential characteristic of his work.
“Naïve art is not necessarily an exotic art for foreign tourists! Above all it is an art that engages the viewer because of its accessibility. Unlike other forms of art, abstract or even symbolic, the viewer is not confronted with his or her own ignorance, for naïve art does not claim to be smarter than the onlooker who gazes upon it, on occasions in a distracted fashion, on others with intensity. On the contrary, understanding what should be understood offers a gentle certainty. It is calming, both for better and for worse. At its worst, stereotypes regarding artistic freedom of proportion and other rules do not allow one to forget where economies are being made. At its best, by way of simplicity and sincerity, the artist renews the themes and script of his dialogue reminding everyone that to see is not so much photographing reality but more a question of imagining it properly. Indeed, Idrissa Diarra does not necessarily show what he sees, but rather what he imagines." Yacouba Konate - Curator, writer, art critic and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cocody Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Since 1986, Idrissa Diarra has participated in almost
40 exhibitions in Africa (Ivory Coast, Gabon and
Senegal), in Europe (France and Belgium) and notably
at the Max Fournier Museum of Naïve Art in Paris as
well as in Japan as part of the cultural exchanges
between this country and Ivory Coast. Very sensitive
to the happiness and well being of children, Diarra
has participated in charity exhibitions to raise funds
for the entertainment of sick children in Antwerp
(Belgium) and at the events organised by the UN in
aid of underprivileged children in Abidjan.
In Abidjan Cocody, the artist is represented by Galerie
Arts Pluriels.
Jean Claude – Forêt brûlée – 67cm H x 47cm W x 32cm D - Walnut
Jean Claude – “Termitière” – 90cm H x 13cm W x 8cm D - Cherry
Jean Claude was born in 1950. As a child, at the side of
his father, a gardener, he learns to manipulate soil.
With a bucket and rake, he creates compositions of
flowers, he landscapes green areas.
At a later age, he becomes interested in the form and
structure of words. He chisels his sentences, moulds
them to fit his moods. Having become an artisan-
typographer, he produces fifty-odd poetic pamphlets
some of which resemble the calligrams by Guillaume
Appolinaire. He writes copiously, etching bouquets of
words on pages.
However it is in the mountains where he acquires a
special tactile sensibility (the heat of scorched rock,
its feel) and he becomes conscious of the subtle
beauty of the paths taken by icy water. The
fascination he feels upon contemplating calcareous
stone or the dazzling beauty of frozen waterfalls
incites him to share his life with these forms of
nature. But in what manner?
As an amateur ignorant of the required techniques, he
begins by collecting pieces of wood, the geometry of
which speak to him. He cleans them and then paints
them with hyssop in the manner of Australian
aborigines, with millions of coloured dots. Then he
becomes bolder: broadening the forms suggested by
the authenticity and simplicity of nature itself. In few
years he masters the use of the file, chisel, gouge,
chain saw, rasp, reamer, sander and other appropriate
tools.
His partner Claude, graphic designer, fills in his defects,
intervening in the general equilibrium of his work and
perspective. She searches and finds the detail that will
enrich the pieces; always evaluating, analysing,
dicussing. She discovers the fault that could
undervalue the project.
Calibrating, judging, weighing. Always wisely.
Then she pronounces, "I like it". That is sufficient.
Jean Claude endorses the words of Jean-François
Salmon:
I like words for their silences
And sculptures and paintings
For their voids
And light for its shadow
The engulfing clarity of a dark night
And the warmth of your absences
Jean Claude – “L’alligator” – 24cm H x 160cm W x 17cm D – Quince
Jean Claude – « Grand chef » - 31cm Alt x 29cm A x 9 cm P - Laburnum
Independent gardener by profession, in the premises
of his clients he collects organic materials, (uprooted
stumps, dry wood...). He strips and stores all the
wood he feels can be put to good use due to its
shape, look, colour and type. He cleans the wood,
removes all little branches and the bark. When he
shapes the wood, the artist uncovers the invisible side
these inert objects possess. The pattern of a
"potential" something is revealed. He follows it up,
exaggerates it. It gives. He takes. Part human, part
animal, these figures intrigue and fascinate by their
presence.
Jean Claude favours a minimum intervention, the
transfiguration of an inhabited object, offering a
contemporary approach.
“Above all, I was seduced by Jean Claude's simplicity
of expression. I feel that the elegance and fragility of
his sculptures, the general movement of his wooden
pieces, are extraordinary. The artist will explain his
genesis, the technical characteristics, how he has
been influenced. However I wish to mention his
tenderness, his poetry, his gentleness expressed
through his pieces.
Jean Claude´s sculpture is infinite poetry, inferring more
than evidencing, mentioning rather than describing,
allowing room for the imagination to fill in the blanks
and connect the volumes.
Encounters, exchanges, chance, necessity, I'm still
perplexed as to the intentions of the artist and I like to
believe that his purpose was to express the
inexpressible, the softness of living when life was
gentle to us, a too rare privilege parsimoniously
distributed.”
Sorella Acosta
Galería Out of Africa
For more information, kindly contact: Sorella Acosta Galería Out of Africa www.galeria-out-of-africa.com [email protected]