PRESS RELEASE

Out of Africa Gallery

Carrer Major, 7 - Carrer Nou - 08870 Sitges (Barcelona) – Spain -

www.galeria-out-of- africa.com - sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com - +34 618 356 351

IDRISSA DIARRA Ivory Coast – Painting

JEAN CLAUDE

Belgium - Sculpture

SPIRITS OF THE FOREST

FROM THE 10/9 TO THE 31/10/2015

Spirits of the forest

Idrissa Diarra (1969- 2015) – Grand Bassam – Ivory Coast –

Naïve painting

Jean Claude (1950) – Belgium – Sculptor and writer

Opening September 5th and showing until the 31st October 2015, Out of Africa gallery of Sitges (Barcelona) hosts Spirits of the Forest, an exhibition of naïve paintings by Ivory Coast painter Idrissa Diarra and sculptures by Belgian artist Jean Claude.

Guided by the work of these two artists hailing from

very different cultures, we shall penetrate the

shadows of the tropical rainforest to make direct

contact with its most secret inhabitants, the spirits

of the forest. A cultural exchange between two

worlds, two continents that are however, united by

a love of nature.

Opening Saturday 12 September at 8pm with the

participation of the artist Jean Claude .

There will be flute concert and a cava cocktail will be

served.

In a career spanning almost thirty years, Idrissa

Diarra's work has focused on three main aspects:

social matters, be it a poster for artisans or

educational panels; cultural traditions from around

Ivory Coast; and lush tropical forest landscapes

adorned with wild animals and birds.

Diarra's work is remarkable for its intensity, level of

detail, abundance of illustration and complexity. From

the four corners of Ivory Coast, the artist observes

nature while also studying local traditions and

customs. Born in northern Ivory Coast, artist Idrissa

Diarra (Tomikoro, 1969) did not have the opportunity

to learn at school. The French that Diarra writes and

speaks was picked up in the school of life, prior to

enrolling in the Conservatoire Regional Des Arts et

Metiers d'Abengourou.

Created as a means for social reintegration through

art, this school arose from the generous imagination

of French aid worker Bieth and is undoubtedly Ivory

Coast's temple of Naïve art, producing artists of

international recognition such as: Augustin Kassy,

Zéhirin, Losseni and Idrissa Diarra.

Idrissa Diarra – « Les lions» - 2015 – 100cm H x 150cm W – Acrylic on canvas

Idrissa Diarra – “Le repos du chasseur” – 2013 – 187cm H x 139cm W – Acrylic on canvas

Idrissa Diarra – “Le boulanger” - 2015

Taught by copying all kinds of paintings, with orders coming from Abidjan and also originating in Europe, these artists, following in Losseni's footsteps, made a commitment to represent daily themes that surrounded them in their lives and they progressively gave free reign to their imagination. Following a highly successful exhibition in the Abidjan Sofitel in 1986, the group of artists was encouraged and reaffirmed in their choice of direction.

From that moment, Idrissa Diarra never stopped working. He gained confidence in his technique and his work has become an essential part of his life: day after day he creates images inspired by what he sees and feels, producing canvases with meticulous care, an essential characteristic of his work.

“Naïve art is not necessarily an exotic art for foreign tourists! Above all it is an art that engages the viewer because of its accessibility. Unlike other forms of art, abstract or even symbolic, the viewer is not confronted with his or her own ignorance, for naïve art does not claim to be smarter than the onlooker who gazes upon it, on occasions in a distracted fashion, on others with intensity. On the contrary, understanding what should be understood offers a gentle certainty. It is calming, both for better and for worse. At its worst, stereotypes regarding artistic freedom of proportion and other rules do not allow one to forget where economies are being made. At its best, by way of simplicity and sincerity, the artist renews the themes and script of his dialogue reminding everyone that to see is not so much photographing reality but more a question of imagining it properly. Indeed, Idrissa Diarra does not necessarily show what he sees, but rather what he imagines." Yacouba Konate - Curator, writer, art critic and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cocody Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Since 1986, Idrissa Diarra has participated in almost

40 exhibitions in Africa (Ivory Coast, Gabon and

Senegal), in Europe (France and Belgium) and notably

at the Max Fournier Museum of Naïve Art in Paris as

well as in Japan as part of the cultural exchanges

between this country and Ivory Coast. Very sensitive

to the happiness and well being of children, Diarra

has participated in charity exhibitions to raise funds

for the entertainment of sick children in Antwerp

(Belgium) and at the events organised by the UN in

aid of underprivileged children in Abidjan.

In Abidjan Cocody, the artist is represented by Galerie

Arts Pluriels.

Jean Claude – Forêt brûlée – 67cm H x 47cm W x 32cm D - Walnut

Jean Claude – “Termitière” – 90cm H x 13cm W x 8cm D - Cherry

Jean Claude was born in 1950. As a child, at the side of

his father, a gardener, he learns to manipulate soil.

With a bucket and rake, he creates compositions of

flowers, he landscapes green areas.

At a later age, he becomes interested in the form and

structure of words. He chisels his sentences, moulds

them to fit his moods. Having become an artisan-

typographer, he produces fifty-odd poetic pamphlets

some of which resemble the calligrams by Guillaume

Appolinaire. He writes copiously, etching bouquets of

words on pages.

However it is in the mountains where he acquires a

special tactile sensibility (the heat of scorched rock,

its feel) and he becomes conscious of the subtle

beauty of the paths taken by icy water. The

fascination he feels upon contemplating calcareous

stone or the dazzling beauty of frozen waterfalls

incites him to share his life with these forms of

nature. But in what manner?

As an amateur ignorant of the required techniques, he

begins by collecting pieces of wood, the geometry of

which speak to him. He cleans them and then paints

them with hyssop in the manner of Australian

aborigines, with millions of coloured dots. Then he

becomes bolder: broadening the forms suggested by

the authenticity and simplicity of nature itself. In few

years he masters the use of the file, chisel, gouge,

chain saw, rasp, reamer, sander and other appropriate

tools.

His partner Claude, graphic designer, fills in his defects,

intervening in the general equilibrium of his work and

perspective. She searches and finds the detail that will

enrich the pieces; always evaluating, analysing,

dicussing. She discovers the fault that could

undervalue the project.

Calibrating, judging, weighing. Always wisely.

Then she pronounces, "I like it". That is sufficient.

Jean Claude endorses the words of Jean-François

Salmon:

I like words for their silences

And sculptures and paintings

For their voids

And light for its shadow

The engulfing clarity of a dark night

And the warmth of your absences

Jean Claude – “L’alligator” – 24cm H x 160cm W x 17cm D – Quince

Jean Claude – « Grand chef » - 31cm Alt x 29cm A x 9 cm P - Laburnum

Independent gardener by profession, in the premises

of his clients he collects organic materials, (uprooted

stumps, dry wood...). He strips and stores all the

wood he feels can be put to good use due to its

shape, look, colour and type. He cleans the wood,

removes all little branches and the bark. When he

shapes the wood, the artist uncovers the invisible side

these inert objects possess. The pattern of a

"potential" something is revealed. He follows it up,

exaggerates it. It gives. He takes. Part human, part

animal, these figures intrigue and fascinate by their

presence.

Jean Claude favours a minimum intervention, the

transfiguration of an inhabited object, offering a

contemporary approach.

“Above all, I was seduced by Jean Claude's simplicity

of expression. I feel that the elegance and fragility of

his sculptures, the general movement of his wooden

pieces, are extraordinary. The artist will explain his

genesis, the technical characteristics, how he has

been influenced. However I wish to mention his

tenderness, his poetry, his gentleness expressed

through his pieces.

Jean Claude´s sculpture is infinite poetry, inferring more

than evidencing, mentioning rather than describing,

allowing room for the imagination to fill in the blanks

and connect the volumes.

Encounters, exchanges, chance, necessity, I'm still

perplexed as to the intentions of the artist and I like to

believe that his purpose was to express the

inexpressible, the softness of living when life was

gentle to us, a too rare privilege parsimoniously

distributed.”

Sorella Acosta

Galería Out of Africa

For more information, kindly contact: Sorella Acosta Galería Out of Africa www.galeria-out-of-africa.com sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com