Amadou Sow
"I was lucky to grow up on the island of Goree, a place whose atmosphere made me look closely to the world around me, which seems to me essential for encountering art. I was part of the earth, the sand and the stones of my world, materials which were my first means of expressing myself through art."
Amadou Sow
Amadou Sow was born in 1951 in St. Louis, which at the time was the capital of the French Colony of Senegal. He spent most of his youth on the island of Goree in Dakar. Goree was one of the largest holding and transport facilities for the slave trade starting in the 16th Century, and now houses a museum in the House of Slaves. "Goree has no automobile traffic. The quiet of the island, coupled with the historical and spiritual presence of the slave trade- is a place where poets and artists can develop their craft and imagination," says Sow.
Sow decided at a young age to be an artist. After attending The National Institute of Fine Arts in Dakar, and the Arts Academy in Vienna, Sow went on to become an internationally acclaimed painter, with exhibits throughout Western Europe, Africa, Canada and the US, including and exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC. For the past 32 years Sow has lived and worked in Vienna, visiting his home/studio on the Pink Lake near Dakar several times a year.
His newest body of work, Sahel Blues, is a series of paintings reflecting his travels in the Sahel Region, which covers 2,400 miles South of the Sahara from the Atlantic Ocean to the Horn of Africa. Senegal, Mali, Sudan and Mauritania are all part of the Sahel. Home to the Fulani, the Dogon and many of Africa's most prominent civilizations, the Sahel is now in environmental and economic crisis.
But the paintings are more than documentary. They reflect Sow's deepest dreams and imagination. Living in Vienna, Sow says that the images and landscapes of his childhood are more intense in his dreams than if he were living full time in Senegal. Vivid blues of the ocean and ochres of the desert permeate the paintings along with painted or scgraffiti (scratched out) symbols which could be words, hieroglyphs or portraits. The landscapes are poetic in spirit yet are grounded in the land and the architecture of the region. Doorways of the clay buildings morph into images of people, while the black eye of the sun invites the viewer to travel through its center into a meditation on the universal. When asked why the sun is black, Sow responds that in every person, no matter what their race, skin color or eye color, the pupil is black. It is the universal connector of all of humankind.
In addition to the gauche on paper works, Sow has brought a collection of his small souwer paintings. Souwer, (from French, under glass) -which we would call reverse painting on glass - is an important Senegalese folk and fine art tradition.
- Amadou Sow with Souwer micropainting
In addition to the gauche on paper works, Sow has brought a collection of his small souwer paintings. Souwer, (from French, under glass) -which we would call reverse painting on glass - is an important Senegalese folk and fine art tradition.
Sow's micropaintings are available as a dvd through Courage Films. Directed by Hermann Kurasch.
- Amadou Sow painting
guache on paper
$2,1000
- Amadou Sow
Guache on paper
$2,100
guache on paper
$2,100
Guache on paper
$2,100