Where: Tiwani Contemporary, London
Pictures Allowed: Yes
Kid Friendly: Yes
Open: Tuesday - Friday 11.00 -18.00, Saturday 12.00 -17.00
Price: Free Admition
Timelines is the first solo show at the Tiwani Contemporary gallery and in the UK for Amsterdam-based Thierry Oussou.
Oussou’s debut show reflects on the relationship between past and present, and envisions how painting can function as a repository for culture. The exhibition features a combination of large and medium-scale works on black paper, which illustrate the artist’s interest in mining past languages, traditions and objects for inspiration.
Distorted figures, objects, symbols and faces float freely against the dark backdrop of the paper. Oussou sought inspiration from drawings and scriptures observed from his environment - charcoal wall doodles made by playing children in his hometown Allada, Benin and the chalk markings recording remittances on the walls of his grandfather’s atelier.
The artist unveils a distinctively gestural style with splatters, scratches and calligraphic markings, showcasing his fondness of the physical properties of paper, texture, shape and colour. In prior exhibitions Oussou has been known to present his pictorial artwork alongside sculpted tree branches and twigs, perfectly marrying visual manifestations and natural organic matter.
Words: Maggie Ibiam
Thierry Oussou, Un sac pour tous, 2018