Catalog méné "terre des hommes"

April 21 – June 3, 2018 | Sitges – Barcelona

TERRES DES HOMMES | MÉNÉ

MÉNÉ | 4

Rencontre - 2018 | 6

Mon reflet - 2018 | 7

Time of Joy - 2018 | 8

Terre des Hommes II - 2018 | 9

Bleu passion - 2018 |

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Pèlerin - 2018 |

11

Terre d'amour - 2018 |

12

Couleur pastel - 2018 | 13

Petit Prince I - 2017 | 14

Petit Prince II - 2017 | 15

The Earth Song I - 2016 | 16

The Earth Song II - 2016 | 17

Biography | 18 Bleu passion | 2018 | 100 cm H x 88 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Méné | Terres des Hommes

MÉNÉ Born 1977, Ivory Coast Lives and works in Dabou (Ivory Coast) At forty years old, Méné has lived his life without clamor and his quiet silhouette is evident in his work. A graduate of the National Institute of Arts and Cultural Action (INSAAC) of Abidjan and Professor of Fine Arts, the artist has followed this path with talent and tenacity and without unnecessary fanfare. Over the last twenty years he has presented his works all over the world, from Abidjan to Paris, from Luxembourg to Dakar, also passing through Spain, and his success has never changed his unassuming character.

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The work itself constitutes his fundamental essence. Méné has been able to change his style without ever losing his identity. He is constantly renewing his technique through thoughtful inquiry. For example, in some of his recent works, Méné has used the worn plastics utilized by house painters as a random background. Regardless, human beings always remain at the core of his work. Alone or in groups, humans are the focus of his paintings, almost exclusively, although other elements - a red and indefinable animal, a beast with horns, the sun or a hut - occasionally occupy the space.

His work unceasingly examines human nature and all its components, both visible and invisible. Presented in a deceptively simple manner, these silhouettes seem to be drawn by a child. However, they contain both the freshness of childish works and at the same time, the depth of work done by an adult who is confronting the world as it is rather than how he would like it to be. There is no pointless prattle, the artist is not talkative and lets his work speak for itself. No breathtaking conceptions, no verbal rambling; the work alone, in the form of an eternal question mark!

The subjects presented, often only in bust and facing the viewer, smile with a good-natured air. If they are not laughing, their mouths may indicate a barely sketched grimace or even a shout. They are usually depicted in groups of two or three, holding each other affectionately by the hand or shoulders.

Méné's works are depicted without pessimism and with no explicit reference to the realities of the daily life of poor populations, but rather of the effervescence of youth and the pursuit of their livelihoods and meaning in their lives.

And yet, if we want to go beyond the placid appearances and juvenile freshness of these paintings, we are forced to recognize some discreet signs or coded language intended for those alone who know, those who can see beyond the images to perhaps a less serene reality.

Sylvain Sankalé Art critic Dakar (Senegal)

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The artist, Méné (Ivory Coast)

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Méné | Terres des Hommes

“Life is made of low blows,

but also of encounters.

Through cohesion, unity and understanding you learn how to draw out the best, values consecrated in community life on this Terre des Hommes.”

Méné

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Mon reflet | 2018 | 80 cm H x 150 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

“We can follow different paths and achieve

Rencontre | 2018 | 150 cm H x 100 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

a common goal. Only your determination will guide you along the way. Confrontation does not make enemies, because my reflection in the mirror is yours.”

Méné

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Terre des Hommes II

| 2018 | 130 x 130 cm | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

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Time of Joy | 2018 | 100 cm H x 150 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

“The earth and its vicissitudes constitute for us a passage. Love is a mirage, but “On this Terre des Hommes, the essential thing is to always remain positive. We raise our hands in unison to celebrate life, because in reality everything is trivial.”

friendship is a thread of gold that only breaks with death. The most beautiful flower in the world always withers, but a faithful friendship lasts for eternity. I've heard that living without a friend is dying without a witness.”

Méné

Méné

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Méné | Terres des Hommes

“I dream of a blue

world of love, passion and singing rocking my serenity.

I dream about time when you and I were one. Will I ever dream of your angelic silhouette on the limits of Nirvana?”

Méné 10

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Pèlerin | 2018 | 130 cm H x 150 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

“I try to understand life, to woo fate, but reality contradicts me. Advancing is the only Bleu passion | 2018 | 100 cm H x 88 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

alternative. The fleeting time is not my ally, but it is still my only advantage during this terrestrial pilgrimage.”

Méné

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Méné | Terres des Hommes

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13

Terre d’amour | 2018 | 115 cm H x 145 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

“The Ode to Life is sung from sunrise to sunset, away from worries, noises and cries... what beauty! This ballet of a village in love. In love with peace, life and colors.”

Méné

Couleur pastel | 2018 | 121 cm H x 151 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

“Remember the time when we tenderly embraced the dust, the time when far from the

hypocrites we delighted in the happiness. The desert was a witness, and so were the oases.

Over time, we end up understanding that the Earth alone could not contain all our laments.”

Méné

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Méné | Terres des Hommes

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Petit Prince I | 2017 | 100 cm H x 150 cm W | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

“I just made a journey around the world looking for happiness... I didn't find it

anywhere... I asked the earth and the sky to understand the meaning, but it was nothing more than a utopia. Letting hope germinate at the foot of fate, my life was crossed with the Little Prince.”

Méné

Petit Prince II | 2017 | 150 x 150 cm | Acrylic and natural pigments on canvas

Méné | Terres des Hommes

Méné | Terres des Hommes

The Earth Song I | 2016 | 107cm H x 102cm W | Acrylic on recycled plastic mounted on canvas

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“Song of sleep, melodious song calling to the sirens at the bottom of

the waters to celebrate life.To return earth to its genesis of blue joy, of red life, is the song of the heart.”

Méné

The Earth Song II | 2016 | 107 cm H x 102cm W | Acrylic on recycled plastic mounted on canvas

Méné | Terres des Hommes

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Méné | Terres des Hommes

Collective exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

2017 | “No border”, Galerie Louis Simone Guirandou, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2016 | “Love is everywhere”, Out of Africa Gallery, Barcelona, Spain 2014 | “Africa Plural”, Out of Africa Gallery, Barcelona, Spain 2013 | “Visages d’Afrique”, Out of Africa Gallery, Benasque, Spain “L’énigmatique désir”, ARKADI 16th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

“OFF Dak’art, Biennale de Dakar, Eiffage, Dakar, Senegal 2011 | “La poétique de la blessure”, ARKADI 15th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2010 | “L’odyssée de la beauté”, ARKADI 14th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2009 | “Les pierres vivantes”, ARKADI 12th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2008 | “Valeurs sûres”, BICICI Amie des Arts, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2007 | “La cité radieuse”, ARKADI 11th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

“De l’esclavage à la liberté”, USA Embassy, Abidjan, Ivory Coast “Boribana”, ARKADI 10th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2006 | “La traversée du désert”, ARKADI 9th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Kajazoma Gallery, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

“Couleurs nouvelles”, Aniss Production, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2005 | Kajazoma Gallery, Exhibition | Performance, Abidjan, Ivory Coast “Mythologie”, ARKADI 8th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Kajazoma Gallery, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2003 | “Le dialogue”, ARKADI 7th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2002 | Galerie Espace Libre, Isle-Sur-la Sorgue, France 2001 | “Ecriture”, Ars Ante Africa, Espace Communic’Art, Paris, France

2018 | 2016 | 2015 | 2002 |

“Terre des Hommes”, Out of Africa Gallery, Barcelona, Spain L’autre rive Hôtel (Phénix), Dabou, Ivory Coast “L’Art et le Vin”, Galerie Amani, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Galerie Tintamarre, L’Isle-Sur-la Sorgue, France

Private collections 2016 | S.M. King of Morocco Mohamed VI, Morocco 2015 | SODIREP, Ivory Coast 2012 | EIFFAGE, Senegal

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For enquiries please contact Sorella Acosta +34 618 356 351 - sorella@outofafricagallery.com Out of Africa Gallery - Carrer Nou 1 - 08870 Sitges - Barcelona - Spain www.outofafricagallery.com Out of Africa Gallery

@OutofAfrica_Art

@outofafricagallery