Alioune Diagne's paintings are made up of tiny dotted lines scattered across his large canvas, creating images that are simultaneously blurred and unique. The Senegalese artist’s debut in New York and his third performance in Templon takes a deeper look at his exploration of cultural heritage, drawing on his cultural heritage from the similarities between his homeland and New York. This intertwined state also responds to the idea that, as the gallery points out, “The younger generation of Senegal, when asked about their future, stared at the Atlantic Ocean.” His unique approach to painting creates a world beyond history and geography, which makes both places exist in a room. He told the observer: “I really believe in the “African Dream” – it's entirely possible to succeed, complete ambitious projects and create real international synergy from Africa, especially from countries like Senegal. This belief prompted me to push me back to my homeland, build my studio in Senegal, and develop my art projects directly from here.”
The New York Show (Wolof for Connection for New for Connection) is titled “Jokkoo,” and the New York performance is a window to the artist's life and his country, full of hope and dreams. In Senegal, fishing is an important aspect of culture and daily life. The beach is packed with colorful Pirogogue ships, each hand-painted and decorated with unique symbols and portraits. Fishermen set sail on cracks at dawn and return fish for sale in the morning market. Diagne, the first artist to represent Senegal at the Venice Biennale last year, showed a Pirogogue boat to those who also used fishing boats to migrate to Europe in dangerous ways. His paintings on Templon offer some hope through sports and images of cityscapes, crowd gatherings and communities. By combining Senegal and New York, he expressed that neither of these are essentially better than the other. In fact, Diagne's translation points out that his American basketball player drawings are more angled, while Senegal's scenes are softer.
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Diagne aims to challenge African youth to reimagine success, proposes an “African Dream” that reflects the American dream, but also believes that his purpose is to create a living archive of his own country. “At the same time, I want to raise awareness of key issues such as exploitation of our fishing resources, tragedies related to secret immigration and sad shipwrecks involving Senegal immigration and shocking pollution that affect our coastline,” he said. “I want the world to be aware of all these realities.”
Diagne's large paintings in his first exhibition in New York made them feel their presence on the walls of the gallery. The canvas is bigger than you think. Only visible close-up distances, the small curves that make up his paintings were inspired by his grandfather, a calligrapher of Arabic writing. He never taught Diagne directly, but he was in awe of the script as a kid. When his grandfather passed, it seemed that he had been transferred to him, although his lines were neither the grandfather's script but a way to spread the story.
Growing up, Diagne never came into contact with contemporary art. “For a long time, I knew nothing about art history or the contemporary art world, mainly because in the villages where I grew up, we simply couldn't get this art culture.” It was not until later that he really began to discover art history during his time at École Desbeaux-Arts in Dakar and during his life in France. “Today, I was particularly attracted to Cubism, especially by the work of Pablo Picasso. Seeing Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon It was an incredible visual impact for me on MOMA in person. Over the years, people spontaneously linked my paintings to Impressionism and even Indexism—I didn’t even know that at that time. It wasn't until recently that I really began to explore this movement and its techniques that enabled Impressionism to consciously influence my artistic approach. ”
In 2023, he collaborated with Musée Des Beaux-Arts of Rouen, France, known for his impressive collection of works, which gave him a new form of artistic language. In New York, Diagne's “Jokkoo” connects continents and traditions, a window to embrace multiple worlds. His paintings speak for himself. In one, a group of Senegalese women are seen as being in the background of skyscrapers made of cardboard. The existence of the crowd is more amazing than the building group behind it. In another piece, this time it will appear to be the person in the US protest, with someone holding the Senegalese flag. In another painting, policemen protesting in black life are wearing Senegal’s uniforms. All the paintings on Templon evoke this duality-the balance here and there, Senegal and New York are in a shared space. After careful observation, the calligraphy is formed and blurs the image. However, in these confusing scenes that blend geographic locations, Diagne's single voice sounded. He concluded: “Most importantly, I want to share with the wider public the beauty and richness of Senegal’s values and traditions: the bustling energy of the market, the resilience and strength of its women, and the hopes and ambitions of young people, far beyond the often portrayed stereotypes.”
“Jokkoo”Before May 1, 2025 to May 1, 2025.
