Cheikhou Bâ
Cheikhou Ba lives in Dakar and trained at the Dakar Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts before specialising in ceramics at Geneva University of Art and Design. The Tomorrow series are an existentialist take on the human condition; behind a false innocence, Cheikhou explores forms of the Abject through the visual language of fantasy popular films. In his research, Cheikhou Ba explores different aspects of the human condition. The notion of respect for individual and collective rights and liberties takes the form of a ritual in the artwork titled Marcher sur des œufs (Walking on Eggshells, 2012). In this installation, hundreds of white ceramic eggs are scattered across the floor.
The ambivalence of human nature is a recurring theme in Cheikhou Ba’s work. In 2008 he bought a batch of twenty small stuffed animals with the aim to utilise them one day. Substituting these for human beings is in direct continuation with the canvases of half-human half-animal forms which he has been painting since he left the École Nationale des Arts (National Arts School) in Dakar in 2000. These various creatures are the base of his formal and conceptual research considering human nature through its multiple incessant and ever ambiguous transformations. In his artworks that feature asexual characters, man is perhaps a woman, an animal or a spirit. But this is still an anthropomorphic being with a grimacing face of defiance, sorrow or irony. Whether it is through drawing, painting or sculpture, Cheikhou Ba explores the principle of metamorphosis with the will to recreate the primordial equation inherent in the esoteric philosophies of the people from Sub-Saharan Africa: the sum of everything is equal to this undefinable unknown on which everything relies. In his work, the spirit is conceived through matter and takes the form of an artwork. All his artworks with their very researched aesthetic represent the process of mutation of an individual, whether that is the physical appearance or the personality.
PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS
2017"Migrations" 50 Golborne , London
2017"Migrations" Galerie Sémaphore, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
2016 "Chocolat" Hommage à Rafael Padilla, Villa Racine, Dakar. Senegal
2015 "Calle M, fila 22, n*2" kalao gallery, Bilbao. Espagne
2014 Lii Rek, Villa Racine, Dakar, Sénégal
2013 Mouth of freedom, Callalou Gallery, Cleveland, USA
Les contradictions de la vie, The Mojo Gallery, Dubaï, Émirats Arabe Unis
2012 Le flou de la vie, Villa Racine, Dakar, Sénégal
2011 Where are we going…Kalao gallery, Bilbao, Espagne
2010 Identity, Villa Racine, Dakar, Sénégal
2010 Retrospective and Perspective, Villa Racine, Dakar, Sénégal
2007 Castle Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland
2005 Contemporary Art Space Rurart, Poitou-Charentes, France
2004 "WERNAADE", Ebéris Studio (Dak'Art Off), Dakar, Sénégal
2003 Arte Gallery, Dakar, Sénégal
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS
2018 "Pueblo en resistencia", Biennale Del Sur, Caracas, Vénézuela.
2018 "Inter-section" galerie The Mojo, Dubai, EAU
2017 "Les éclaireurs" Palais des Papes, Avignon, France
2017 "Triumvirate" The Mojo Gallery, Dubaï, UEA
2017 1:54 New York / 50Golborne Gallery
2016 1:54 London / 50Golborne Gallery
2014 Grain de folie, Les comptoirs du Fleuve, St-Louis, Sénégal
2013 Creative Fusion, Cleveland, USA
2013 Primera Planta, Bilbao
2012 Flying, Bethanian, Berlin, Allemagne. More Human, Biscuiterie Médina, Biennale de Dakar, Off, Sénégal
2011 Le Douze Gallery, Nantes, France
2011 "Proven Generation", Mojo Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2nd ROUND, Kalao Gallery, Bilbao, Espagne
2011 The return, Fiac, Musée d’art contemporain d’Alger, Algérie
2009 Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2009 ANIMAL, ANIMA, Jean Paul Blachère Foundation, Apt, France
2009 Europ'Art 09, Geneva, Switzerland
2008 Paraplufabrik, Nijmeren, Netherlands
2008 Eiffage (Dak'Art Off), Dakar, Sénégal
2007 "State of play. 01", Strasbourg, France
2006 International Sculpture Symposium, Changchun, China
2006 Contemporary Senegal, Dapper Museum, Paris, France
2006 Dak'Art, Dakar, Sénégal
2005 "Contemporary Creation in Senegal", French Institute Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Sénégal
2005 "Beneen Bët (Otra Mirada)", Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands
2005 Water for All, Ottowa, Canada
2004 "Man is a mystery", Espace Lamennais, Saint-Brieuc, France
2002 "Multicultural 2002", Aténéo de la Lagune, Tenerife, Canary Islands
2002 Espace Fougerolles, Dakar, Sénégal
2000 "An artist, a work, a map", Le Niani, Dakar, Sénégal
2000 National Gallery, Dakar, Sénégal
1999 IFAN Museum, Dakar, Sénégal
RESIDENCIES
2013 Cleveland Foundation, Zygote Press, Cleveland, USA
2012 Fondation Bruckner, Genève, Suisse
2008 IFAA (International Festival of Arts in Arnhem), Arnhem, Pays-Bas
2007 Kulttuurikaupila, Ii, Finlande
2005 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Connecticut, USA
2004 Departmental Office of Cultural Development (ODDC), Saint-Brieuc, France
2002 French Embassy, Dakar, Sénégal
AWARDS
2013 Sélection Creative Fusion residency program, Cleveland, USA
2012 Sélection biennale Dak’Art , Dakar, Sénégal
2011 Sélection à la Fiac Alger - “The Return”, Alger, Algérie Prix de la Fondation Bruckner, Carouge, Suisse
2004 Dak'Art - Winner of the Poitou-Charentes Prize, France
2001 Représentant du Sénégal aux Jeux de la Francophonie, Ottawa, Canada
