ON THE ROAD AGAIN | SAADIO

from SAADIO | On The Road Again

by Galería Out of Africa

2 March – 7 April 2019 | Barcelona - Spain

SAADIO | On the road again

The artist, Saadio (Senegal)

Looking at SAADIO'S paintings is like reading hieroglyphs; they are magnificent but reserved for the initiated (those who can read them). Introduced by his family to the Peulh signs and the cosmogenic mysteries of the Dogon, this guardian of mysteries in turn uses symbols to express the evolution of the African people — the confrontation of traditional rituals in the heart of contemporary African society. Sacred elements can be found in the mysterious presence of animals lost in an urban maze; hens, crocodiles, snakes, fish... truly traditional symbolism at the core of a city that is alive, colourful and redolent, where thousands of people are on the move, whether by car, motorbike or walking as planes fly overhead.

Dakar's walls speak... almost literally. Billboards and graffiti abound and the city is discovered by means of its walls. In this colourful urban microcosm, popular symbols are made prominent by SAADIO, often in a nostalgic manner. For example, his artwork titled "Kodak" in which he incorporates the photographic studios of Dakar that once worked with Kodak film. SAADIO isolates the observed object and integrates it into a background of symbols painted like hieroglyphs. The African city is presented as a place of tricksters, of odd jobs such as salesmen pushing cell phone credit, sellers of milky Nescafé coffee at breakfast, cheese sellers, vendors of peanuts, Coca-Cola, handkerchiefs or biscuits with sesame seeds.

SAADIO | On the road again