Montreuil, France
3 – 7 PM
Open Studio on Saturday, 15 April from 3 to 7 PM, in presence of Omar Mahfoudi, Ousmane Niang and Emma Odumade, artists in residence.
RSVP mandatory via email to: info@afikaris.com
Omar Mahfoudi is a permanent resident of AFIKARIS' residency. He plays with presence and absence through the emptiness that fills his works with a mystery, alongside a form of existential solitude. His compositions can be distinguished sometimes by lush vegetation, sometimes by a desert biome, sometimes by disturbing shadows, sometimes by soothing figures. They unfold in a faded atmosphere, oscillating between lost paradise, melancholic twilight and unfathomable night.
Ousmane Niang is developing, for one month, a personal project at the residency. His work used to depict the society's inequalities and now explores how to build a better future. The aesthetics of his art is based on the pointillist technique. If each point is double for Ousmane Niang, each problem comes with its solution. The artist suggests avenues for reflection. It is a call to remain on the lookout, to concentrate on a situation to solve it. His paintings are not meant to be only contemplated.
Emma Odumade is completing a one-month residency. The works created during this time will be on display on the occasion of the 1-54 New York art fair in May. Odumade's work centers around hyper-realistic drawings that interact with notions of identity and explore the social constructs of beauty and power. Born and raised in Lagos, Odumade’s art journey started at a very young age with drawing comics and cartoons and pasting collages on paper. Odumade lauds the pencil as a weapon for activism and a means for reconnecting with personal stories and experiences.
