ABIDJAN.- LouiSimone Guirandou ends the year 2020 with a Carte Blanche offered to Albéric Kouassi whose works are joined by those of Nù Barreto, Cédric Tchinan and Obou.
This exhibition places the end of the year under the mark of color and optimism with works of very diverse styles and techniques.
For his carte blanche, it is Victor Hugo's poem "Those who live, are those who struggle" which came to Alberic Kouassi's mind.In an uncertain health and political context, in the era of individualism, when ideals seem to have become illusions, the Artist summons "Thinking Angels", "Indignant" who call us to question our personal commitment in a society that sees the gap between social classes growing wider.
It is the same concern that animates Nù Barreto with his series of flags "Disunited States of Africa". The work exhibited: Ca Va Aller is part of this series. By changing the colors of the American star-spangled banner to red, yellow and green, the three colors most often found in the flags of the fifty-four African states, the Artist points to the disunion of his people whom he holds to be responsible for the troubles of African society.
According to him, it is this inability to look forward together in the same direction that cultivates the dependence of African nations on external powers to their continent. The black stars scattered in an anarchic manner on the torn stripes of Nú Barreto's pan-African flags reflect this situation. Behind the contesting scope of his work, the artist retains an unwavering confidence in the human.The virtuous power of art inspires the artist to create works that are committed but also carry a message of hope. An Africa full of intellectual and cultural resources capable of freeing from its past and reinventing itself.
A graduate of the Institut National Supérieur des Arts de Côte d'Ivoire in 2019, Obou is a direct witness of the violence against civilians in Man at the time of the sad events of 2002. He goes into exile with his family in Abidjan where he discovers the evenings of popular atmosphere and the lights of the city but also the precariousness and overpopulation of popular neighborhoods. His research since the school of Fine Arts focuses on the different facets of the world and its contradictions. The saturation of urban landscapes and the congestion of walking crowds, violence, joy, anguish and dreams are the motto of his creations. The faces, imbued with modernity, are often hidden under Dan masks from his native region, as if to hide the distress of his characters and the assaulted thread of their story. Through the impassivity of the masks and their false quietness, Obou's creations show the faces and their doubles in a paradoxical and powerful proximity.
As for Cédric Tchinan, he sees and shows the link between human beings. In his work, the line represents this fragile link that connects us all. Thus, the Artist uses a rather expressive and simple expression, close to doodling; the optical effect emphasizes his sensitivity and the aesthetics of his work. This work questions us about our relationships with others, all those WE to whom we contribute and who constitute us. The we of the family, the we of friendship, the we of neighbors ..., the we of the whole humanity appear on the colored canvases of Cedric and under the arabesques of the continuous line drawing his characters.
