Press dossier spirits of the forest idrissa diarra jean claude uk

PRESS RELEASE

IDRISSA DIARRA Ivory Coast – Painting

JEAN CLAUDE Belgium - Sculpture

SPIRITS OF THE FOREST FROM THE 10/9 TO THE 31/10/2015

Out of Africa Gallery Carrer Major, 7 - Carrer Nou - 08870 Sitges (Barcelona) – Spain www.galeria-out-of- africa.com - sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com - +34 618 356 351

Spirits of the forest Opening September 5th and showing until the 31st October 2015, Out of Africa gallery of Sitges (Barcelona) hosts Spirits of the Forest, an exhibition of naïve paintings by Ivory Coast painter Idrissa Diarra and sculptures by Belgian artist Jean Claude.

Guided by the work of these two artists hailing from very different cultures, we shall penetrate the shadows of the tropical rainforest to make direct contact with its most secret inhabitants, the spirits of the forest. A cultural exchange between two worlds, two continents that are however, united by a love of nature.

Opening Saturday 12 September at 8pm with the participation of the artist Jean Claude .

There will be flute concert and a cava cocktail will be served.

Idrissa Diarra (1969- 2015) – Grand Bassam – Ivory Coast – Naïve painting

Jean Claude (1950) – Belgium – Sculptor and writer

In a career spanning almost thirty years, Idrissa Diarra's work has focused on three main aspects: social matters, be it a poster for artisans or educational panels; cultural traditions from around Ivory Coast; and lush tropical forest landscapes adorned with wild animals and birds.

Diarra's work is remarkable for its intensity, level of detail, abundance of illustration and complexity. From the four corners of Ivory Coast, the artist observes nature while also studying local traditions and customs. Born in northern Ivory Coast, artist Idrissa Diarra (Tomikoro, 1969) did not have the opportunity to learn at school. The French that Diarra writes and speaks was picked up in the school of life, prior to enrolling in the Conservatoire Regional Des Arts et Metiers d'Abengourou.

Created as a means for social reintegration through art, this school arose from the generous imagination of French aid worker Bieth and is undoubtedly Ivory Coast's temple of Naïve art, producing artists of international recognition such as: Augustin Kassy, Zéhirin, Losseni and Idrissa Diarra.

Idrissa Diarra – « Les lions» - 2015 – 100cm H x 150cm W – Acrylic on canvas

Idrissa Diarra – “Le repos du chasseur” – 2013 – 187cm H x 139cm W – Acrylic on canvas

Taught by copying all kinds of paintings, with orders coming from Abidjan and also originating in Europe, these artists, following in Losseni's footsteps, made a commitment to represent daily themes that surrounded them in their lives and they progressively gave free reign to their imagination. Following a highly successful exhibition in the Abidjan Sofitel in 1986, the group of artists was encouraged and reaffirmed in their choice of direction.

From that moment, Idrissa Diarra never stopped working. He gained confidence in his technique and his work has become an essential part of his life: day after day he creates images inspired by what he sees and feels, producing canvases with meticulous care, an essential characteristic of his work.

“Naïve art is not necessarily an exotic art for foreign tourists! Above all it is an art that engages the viewer because of its accessibility. Unlike other forms of art, abstract or even symbolic, the viewer is not confronted with his or her own ignorance, for naïve art does not claim to be smarter than the onlooker who gazes upon it, on occasions in a distracted fashion, on others with intensity.

On the contrary, understanding what should be understood offers a gentle certainty. It is calming, both for better and for worse. At its worst, stereotypes regarding artistic freedom of proportion and other rules do not allow one to forget where economies are being made. At its best, by way of simplicity and sincerity, the artist renews the themes and script of his dialogue reminding everyone that to see is not so much photographing reality but more a question of imagining it properly. Indeed, Idrissa Diarra does not necessarily show what he sees, but rather what he imagines." Yacouba Konate Curator, writer, art critic and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cocody Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Since 1986, Idrissa Diarra has participated in almost 40 exhibitions in Africa (Ivory Coast, Gabon and Senegal), in Europe (France and Belgium) and notably at the Max Fournier Museum of Naïve Art in Paris as well as in Japan as part of the cultural exchanges between this country and Ivory Coast. Very sensitive to the happiness and well being of children, Diarra has participated in charity exhibitions to raise funds for the entertainment of sick children in Antwerp (Belgium) and at the events organised by the UN in aid of underprivileged children in Abidjan.

In Abidjan Cocody, the artist is represented by Galerie Arts Pluriels.

Idrissa Diarra – “Le boulanger” - 2015

Jean Claude was born in 1950. As a child, at the side of his father, a gardener, he learns to manipulate soil.

With a bucket and rake, he creates compositions of flowers, he landscapes green areas.

At a later age, he becomes interested in the form and structure of words. He chisels his sentences, moulds them to fit his moods. Having become an artisantypographer, he produces fifty-odd poetic pamphlets some of which resemble the calligrams by Guillaume Appolinaire. He writes copiously, etching bouquets of words on pages.

Jean Claude – Forêt brûlée – 67cm H x 47cm W x 32cm D - Walnut

However it is in the mountains where he acquires a special tactile sensibility (the heat of scorched rock, its feel) and he becomes conscious of the subtle beauty of the paths taken by icy water. The fascination he feels upon contemplating calcareous stone or the dazzling beauty of frozen waterfalls incites him to share his life with these forms of nature. But in what manner?

As an amateur ignorant of the required techniques, he begins by collecting pieces of wood, the geometry of which speak to him. He cleans them and then paints them with hyssop in the manner of Australian aborigines, with millions of coloured dots. Then he becomes bolder: broadening the forms suggested by the authenticity and simplicity of nature itself. In few years he masters the use of the file, chisel, gouge, chain saw, rasp, reamer, sander and other appropriate tools.

His partner Claude, graphic designer, fills in his defects, intervening in the general equilibrium of his work and perspective. She searches and finds the detail that will enrich the pieces; always evaluating, analysing, dicussing. She discovers the fault that could undervalue the project.

Calibrating, judging, weighing. Always wisely.

Then she pronounces, "I like it". That is sufficient.

Jean Claude – “Termitière” – 90cm H x 13cm W x 8cm D - Cherry

Jean Claude endorses the words of Jean-François Salmon: I like words for their silences And sculptures and paintings For their voids And light for its shadow The engulfing clarity of a dark night And the warmth of your absences

Jean Claude – “L’alligator” – 24cm H x 160cm W x 17cm D – Quince

Independent gardener by profession, in the premises of his clients he collects organic materials, (uprooted stumps, dry wood...). He strips and stores all the wood he feels can be put to good use due to its shape, look, colour and type. He cleans the wood, removes all little branches and the bark. When he shapes the wood, the artist uncovers the invisible side these inert objects possess. The pattern of a "potential" something is revealed. He follows it up, exaggerates it. It gives. He takes. Part human, part animal, these figures intrigue and fascinate by their presence.

Jean Claude favours a minimum intervention, the transfiguration of an inhabited object, offering a contemporary approach.

“Above all, I was seduced by Jean Claude's simplicity of expression. I feel that the elegance and fragility of his sculptures, the general movement of his wooden pieces, are extraordinary. The artist will explain his genesis, the technical characteristics, how he has been influenced. However I wish to mention his tenderness, his poetry, his gentleness expressed through his pieces.

Jean Claude´s sculpture is infinite poetry, inferring more than evidencing, mentioning rather than describing, allowing room for the imagination to fill in the blanks and connect the volumes.

Encounters, exchanges, chance, necessity, I'm still perplexed as to the intentions of the artist and I like to believe that his purpose was to express the inexpressible, the softness of living when life was gentle to us, a too rare privilege parsimoniously distributed.”

Sorella Acosta Galería Out of Africa

Jean Claude – « Grand chef » - 31cm Alt x 29cm A x 9 cm P Laburnum

For more information, kindly contact: Sorella Acosta Galería Out of Africa www.galeria-out-of-africa.com sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com