ART ANTWERP: SAÏDOU DICKO

SAÏDOU DICKO WAS BORN IN BURKINA FASO IN 1979. A SELF-TAUGHT VISUAL ARTIST (PHOTOGRAPHER, VIDEOGRAPHER, INSTALLER AND PAINTER), HE LIVES AND WORKS IN PARIS.

 

Shadows have always inspired Saïdou Dicko’s work. When he was a child, the shadows pushed him to draw. Whilst he was a shepherd, he used to trace the outlines of the bushes, animals and rivers he met. The cross on top of the head of his characters also echo his childhood. That is a wink to the pattern of one fabric from the Peulh tradition. For him, it is a way to pay a tribute to beauty and to represent the humanity of his characters. To this extent, he turns them into shadows. In his series of painted photographs, The Shadowed People - unique pieces - a combination of different clichés, he covers the subject with black paint. In that way, the beings give their place to their shadow, providing a universal scope to the work. The life experiences of Saïdou Dicko, between Paris and Burkina Faso, his native culture and his travels, leave their mark on his work with poetry as well as mystery. 

 

His work has been awarded with several prizes: Prix Blachère in 2006 at the Dakar Biennale, Prix de la francophonie at the African photography encounters of Bamako in 2007, the Fondation Thamgidi Prize in 2008 in Dakar and the Off Prize of European Union.  Saïdou Dicko exhibited all over the world at art fairs and on the occasion of solo presentation in galleries.