“Morose delectation” is the title that Gopal Dagnogo chose for his new exhibition at 110 Galerie Véronique Rieffel in Paris. “It is a religious concept of taking pleasure in sadness, of complaining in melancholy. I find that this oxymoron fairly aptly sums up the dissonances that govern our societies, the contradictions that govern the schizophrenic world in which we live”underlines the Franco-Ivorian artist.
And to add: “A world that is both more civilized and more violent, more respectful and less tolerant, sickly hygienic and cruelly toxic, fiercely libertarian and slyly liberticidal. A declining civilizational model, incapable of introspection. »
“Symphony of Roses”
The pictures are not as gloomy as this pessimistic observation. The dark side of humanity hardly emerges on the surface of the canvases, even if the construction of the works can confuse those who look at them by showing a real freedom in the composition ignoring the perspective dear to the Renaissance (from the 14the have XVIIe century). Véronique Rieffel has “ loved this symphony of roses, this spring side, and I share with Gopal the taste for puns, beyond the cultural and religious allusions of the title of the exhibition.
The gallery owner discovered the work of the visual artist at the 1-54 contemporary African art fair which was held in Marrakech, on February 24 and 25, 2018 at La Mamounia. Thanks to a mutual friend, the Ivorian sculptor Jems Koko Bi, she met him and was seduced by his unique universe and his humor. In November 2019, encouraged by the artistic director of the AKAA fair, Armelle Dakouo, Véronique Rieffel presented it in solo show at Carreau du Temple, in Paris: ” A box ! »she remembers.
Born in 1973 in Abidjan to an Ivorian father, a history teacher, and a French mother, a professor of fine arts and a graduate of the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris, Gopal Dagnogo was introduced to art very early on. aesthetic, in a universe where the smells of gouache and turpentine mixed: “I knew I would become a painter. I dreamed of freedom, music and painting. » Thanks to two of his brothers who also graduated in fine arts, he learned technique, without forgetting his taste for reading art history books.
At the age of 17, he left the Ivory Coast and arrived in Bordeaux, studying at a high school in Philosophy and Visual Arts. One of his teachers is none other than Jacques Abeille, a writer known under the open pseudonym Léo Barthe, influenced by the surrealist movement in which he participated in the 1960s and 1970s.
“My head-on encounter with conceptual art”
“He taught me with patience to deconstruct presuppositions, broaden the field of possibilities and avoid falling into the trap of the facilities I had for drawing and color. It led me, for example, to consider Basquiat’s work in other ways than the scribbles of a badly drugged zigoto. But the real shock was my head-on encounter with conceptual art at CAPC [Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux], in the fall of 1991. I was suddenly confronted with walls covered in 8.7 cm scratches [de large], blind tarpaulin style. It was Daniel Buren. It took me a while to get over it.”remembers the painter.
In 1997, to train in other artistic techniques, he left for Burkina Faso, the land of bronze casters, to learn the lost wax technique (precision casting to obtain a metal sculpture from a wax model ). A stay which was to last one month, which will turn into a three-year residency. “To be honest, I have done very little bronze, but I do not rule out returning to it one day”he admits.
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Influenced by the great masters of the Renaissance, Gopal Dagnogo is also influenced by more eccentric personalities who stand out for their audacity, the assurance of line, the power of chromatic balances: the post-impressionists Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Vincent Van Gogh, the Austrian expressionists Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.
In his still lifes – a classic and timeless theme of painting – presented at 110 Honoré, fish and chickens occupy pride of place. According to the visual artist, « Animal Farm, by George Orwell, wonderfully depicts this human animality. I sometimes have the feeling that we live in the heart of this dystopia. What if our world was just a giant chicken coop? Everyone is busy pecking at their ration. And, for the most ambitious, the concern to covet the neighbor’s portion of grain, with the ultimate objective of enslaving him.
“I savor the “pitiful-shabby”
For him, it is a matter of paying homage to the banality of everyday life, of highlighting, of restoring an emotional value to objects that are at first glance uninteresting, but essential to our ordinary comfort. Its starting point is often one or more colors, without sketches or preparatory drawings.
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When Gopal Dagnogo runs out of ideas, “there is always a way to “force” inspiration. Just get the canvas dirty. One task calls for another. Then another one. The picture builds itself. My role is then limited to placing in the middle of the joyful bric-a-brac a few recurring elements of our daily life: beers, sneakers, bottles, lemons, odd mathematical formulas…”
Read also: Contemporary art: Africa benefits from a new exhibition space in Paris
In art as in literature, his inclination shifts towards damaged works. He prefers Emile Ajar to Romain Gary, Ahmadou Kourouma to Gustave Flaubert. “I like it when it hits, when it’s dented, like Bukowski, Cioran or Adiaffi. I savor the “pitiful-shabby”, when we know how to laugh at misery and cry at human beauty.” he specifies.
If the plastic works of contemporaries like the South African William Kentridge, the Chinese Chen Zhen or the Japanese Yayoi Kusama struck him, he had just discovered those of the Senegalese Fally Sene Sow and «in this slime».
Finally, upon entering 110 Honoré, visitors are struck by an armchair covered in its pink and orange poultry print. On the first floor, they will find, relates Véronique Rieffel, “a totally improbable installation, carried out on siteand for which Gopal immersed himself day and night, a bit like in residence, which offers a whole gallery of extremely touching faces.
“Morose delight”, by Gopal Dagnogo, at 110 Galerie Véronique Rieffel, 110 rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris. Until 1is June.
Bombarded fragments of happiness, poem by Julien Delmaire about the works of Gopal Dagnogo (editions 110 Véronique Rieffel, Bal.l.ades collection, 38 pages, 10 euros). Released May 24.
Olivier Herviaux
Per Gessle’s grief: Several deaths in the family | Pleasure
#Gessles #grief #deaths #family #Pleasure
Marie Fredriksson passed away in the aftermath of a brain tumor in 2019.
Photo: IMAGO/IBL
Triple current Per Gessle.
Photo: JESSICA GOW / TT NEWS AGENCY
Later this year, Per Gessle, 65, will release his first Swedish album in seven years, on July 17 the film about the Golden Times, “Sommartider”, will have its cinema premiere and in September, “Joyride the musical” will premiere at Malmö opera.
In an interview with King Magazine, the artist talks about his exciting future plans – but also about the tough period he is leaving behind.
On December 9, 2019, Marie Fredriksson passed away as a result of the brain tumor she had lived with for almost 20 years. It has almost been five years since Sweden lost one of its biggest artists and Per Gessle lost his radar partner.
– It was terribly difficult. But at the same time, she was sick for so long, so we knew she was sick. You waited for that conversation in some way and knew it would come sooner or later, Gessle adds King Magazine.
He says that receiving the sick leave in 2002 was more difficult.
– It came like a bolt from the blue and you didn’t understand what it was. It was a strange fate.
Lost several family members in a short time
Since the death of Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle has lost several relatives. Over the course of a few years, he lost his mother Elisabeth, his brother Bengt and his sister Gunilla.
– We will all die. I don’t think about it much. It is always very difficult when loved ones pass away, he says and continues:
– My mother was old and sick, so it was also something you mentally prepared for. I also knew that my sister was bad. However, I did not know that my brother was ill.
The artist tells the newspaper that his brother suffered from lung cancer, but chose to keep the news of the illness to himself. Once he passed away, it came as a surprise.
Per Gessle’s father Kurt passed away when the son was only 19 years old, but despite the tragedy the artist has gone through, he tries to be positive and grateful for what he has been through.
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Famous Iranian film maker killed along with his wife
According to the Iranian judiciary, Dariush Mehrjoi, one of the famous filmmakers, was stabbed to death along with his wife in their home near Tehran on Saturday evening.
The 83-year-old director was associated with Irani’s ‘first wave of cinema’, making blockbusters like ‘Da Kao’ in 1969, one of the first films of this movement.
According to the Iranian Judiciary’s ‘Mezan Online’ news agency, the Chief Justice of Alborz province near Tehran, Hossein Fazli Harikandi, said: ‘During the preliminary investigation, we found that Dariush Mehrjooi and his wife Wahida Mohammadifar were stabbed several times in the neck. was killed.’
In an interview published in the local newspaper ‘Etimad’, the filmmaker’s wife said that she was threatened and her house was robbed.
According to Meezan Online: ‘Investigation revealed that no complaint was filed regarding illegal entry into Mehrjoi’s ancestral home and theft of his belongings.’
Dariush’s most notable films include ‘Da Cow’ in 1970’s ‘Mr Gulbel’, 1977’s ‘Da Cycle’, 1987’s ‘The Tenants’, 1990’s ‘Hamon’, 1993’s ‘Sarah’, 1995’s ‘Prey’. and 1997’s ‘Laila’.
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
All these films were screened at the Forum d’Images in Paris as a tribute to Mehrjoi.
During 1980 and 1985, the Iranian filmmaker lived in France where he worked on the documentary film ‘Journey to the Land of Rimbaud’.
On his return to Iran, his film ‘The Tenants’ created a sensation at the box office.
In 1990, he directed ‘Hamon’, a dark comedy about the post-divorce struggles of an intellectual.
During the 1990s, Mehrjoi portrayed the lives of women in films like Sara, Pari and Laila.