Aliou Diack
Earth memory, 2022
Pigments naturels, plantes médicinales, charbon, sève Installation de 5 panneaux avec tube métallique
380 x 230 (x5)
At Art Basel 2022, Aliou Diack takes over the space with a monumental three-dimensional installation. The natural elements take possession of the space, placing the spectator in a process of discovery, in full immersion. The installation is both aerial and anchored in the ground: it has large roots that surround the world. The harmony between the shades, from brown to ochre, seems to move freely, associating through polymorphic forms like thousands of atoms that would constitute a new and meaningful matter. The format includes the public within it, our place is drawn in the centre of the colours like an obviousness. The effervescence of the Senegalese bush traces a path in the heights, it spreads and propagates, creating behind it an almost sonorous and perfumed signature. The artist lingers above all on the textures, the details which give a soul to the whole of the realization: that of a living environment which seems to breathe, to live in symbiosis and in perfect autonomy. Poetry, smells and sounds cross each other silently, they simply whisper to the one who will find his place, who will stretch his ear to marry each corner.
Aliou Diack was born in 1987 in Sidi Bougou, in the Mbour region of Dakar, Senegal. As a curious child, Aliou set out to discover nature and the flora and fauna of the world. He observed proportions, colours, textures and recorded all this in drawing books, which served as a training ground. To pursue his studies, he left his village at the age of 10 to move to the heart of Dakar. He did not find the same nature or freedom there, and compensated by drawing "everywhere" around him, in order to recreate his universe. He began studying art at the National School of Arts in Dakar, where he was led to manipulate multiple mediums and tools that allowed him to expand his artistic field and master techniques other than drawing. As the top of his class, Aliou distinguishes himself from the others by the visual power of his works, which are sober, but from which emanates a primitive and instinctive universe.