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Kassou SEYDOU Niete Yi Nio Togue, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
Sig…
See original version (French)
25
-
Kassou SEYDOU Niete Yi Nio Togue, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
Sig…
See original version (French)
Estimate €6,000 - €8,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Kassou SEYDOU
Niete Yi Nio Togue, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
Signed and dated middle right "Kassou Seydou 2023".
149 x 129 cm
Acrylic on canvas; signed and dated middle right; "Kassou Seydou 2023"
58.66 x 50.78 in.
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the current owner
FR
A Senegalese painter born in Ziguinchor in 1971, Kassou Seydou's poetic work is deeply rooted in the visual narrative and spiritual heritage of Casamance. Trained at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Dakar between 1998 and 2001, he now lives and works in Keur Massar, on the outskirts of Dakar. The artist sees his work as an exploration of the world in disorder, a staging of the tensions that run through it. Convinced that everything is writing and that writing is a distorted line, Kassou Seydou transposes this thought into an aesthetic marked by the repetition of circular forms, a kind of visual calligraphy where each loop seems to contain a piece of history. His palette of warm colours, animated characters and dense scenes plunge the viewer into a universe where symbols, spirits and fetishes mingle with social and environmental concerns.
Drawing on the animism and popular beliefs of his childhood in Casamance, his work reveals an embodied spirituality, in which animals and natural elements become totemic figures. Nature, and in particular agriculture, is seen as a fundamental pillar of a threatened social balance. For Kassou Seydou, the depletion of resources, structural inequalities and economic excesses are all wounds that art can and must highlight. His canvases, both critical and profoundly human, are a call to our collective conscience to put the earth and humanity back at the centre of our priorities.
Winner of the British Council's Words & Pictures competition in 2009, Kassou Seydou has also been in residence at the Fondation Blachère and the Alliance française in Ziguinchor.
EN
Senegalese painter Kassou Seydou, born in 1971 in Ziguinchor, creates poetic works deeply rooted in visual storytelling and the spiritual heritage of Casamance. Trained at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Dakar from 1998 to 2001, he now lives and works in Keur Massar, on the outskirts of Dakar. Seydou sees his practice as an exploration of a world in disarray, a staging of the tensions that shape it. Believing that everything is writing, and that writing is a distorted line, he translates this idea into a visual aesthetic defined by the repetition of circular forms, a kind of visual calligraphy in which each loop holds a fragment of a story.
With a warm colour palette, lively characters, and densely layered scenes, Seydou draws viewers into a universe where symbols, spirits, and fetishes intermingle with social and environmental concerns. Drawing from the animist traditions and popular beliefs of his childhood in Casamance, his work reveals a lived spirituality in which animals and natural elements take on totemic significance. Nature and especially agriculture appears as a foundational pillar of a fragile social balance.
For Kassou Seydou, the depletion of natural resources, structural inequalities, and economic exploitation are deep wounds that art can and must expose. His paintings, both critical and deeply human, call for a collective awakening: to put the earth and humanity back at the heart of our priorities.
Winner of the British Council's Words & Pictures competition in 2009, Seydou has also held residencies at the Fondation Blachère and the Alliance Française in Ziguinchor.
Kassou SEYDOU
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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