To mark the inaugural Art Basel Paris +, Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello has invited artist Elladj Lincy Deloumeaus to exhibit a series of specially commissioned artworks at the brand’s Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles. About 30 artworks will be shown in Paris, and two unique and large pieces in the Los Angeles store. The exhibition will run from 18 October 2022.
Exploring the relationship between people and imaginaries, the artist takes an open and vibrant approach to his artworks. Deloumeaus focuses on Afro-Caribbean images that depict “everyday life, mythologies, iconography, beliefs, and religious heritage” as stated in the press release. His pictorial narratives are a recount of his personal experiences and an examination of the pluralist world he inhabits.
Visitors to the exhibition will find a mixture of still life and painting series where the common thread is the use of the colour black. To the artist, the colour holds symbolic meanings of creation and destruction. In Afro-Caribbean and Indian communities, black is also the divine colour.
His creative endeavours take the form of an initiatory trip, the reappropriation of one’s past self that has to reconcile with its own shadow before discovering its own light. The transition towards enlightenment calls for the realisation of the illusory through understanding oneself.
This exhibition is a collaboration between Saint Laurent and Cècile Fakhoury Gallery. With an emphasis on promoting contemporary art across the African continent, the gallery cultivates awareness, creativity and diversity. Many of the artists that are represented by the gallery have the ability to break down geographical barriers and connect with their audience through the common language of art.
Paris has been in the spotlight recently as more art exhibitions and fairs are being held in the “City of Light”. Apart from Saint Laurent, other luxury houses like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Guerlain and Lalique are also participating in the art fair and so far the reception has been encouraging. The Art Basel Paris+ replaces the former FIAC contemporary art fair and is held at the Grand Palais Éphémère temporary structure, which is just around the Eiffel Tower.
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