Seydou Keita
dal 26/1/2006 al 3/4/2006
Segnalato da
26/1/2006
Seydou Keita
Sean Kelly Gallery (old location), New York
Studio portraits. Many sitters arrived in their Sunday best, some in traditional tribal costume, others adopted the attire of the western businessmen, while most combined both indigenous and western elements. The photographs capture not only how the sitters appeared, but also how they saw themselves, and how they wanted to be seen by others.
Solo show
Sean Kelly Gallery is delighted to announce an exhibition of portraits
by internationally renowned African photographer Seydou Keita (1923 -
2001).
The exhibition is comprised of works carefully chosen in collaboration
with the Seydou Keita Foundation, which were taken in the 1950s and
1960s and have never before been exhibited. Although formally posed,
the studio portraits are not contrived or pretentious. Keita often used
bedspreads and other readily available material as backdrops for his
portraits. He also offered a variety of costumes, accessories and
props for his clients to use. Many sitters arrived in their Sunday
best, some in traditional tribal costume, others adopted the attire of
the western businessmen, while most combined both indigenous and
western elements. The photographs capture not only how the sitters
appeared, but also how they saw themselves, and how they wanted to be
seen by others.
Seydou Keita, without question one of the seminal artists of the
African continent, was born in 1923 in Bamako, Mali. A self-trained
photographer, he always preferred the direct control that black and
white studio portraits afforded. From 1949 to 1964, Keita was a studio
photographer with a remarkable reputation who meticulously created and
preserved thousands of exceptional photographs. While both a
historical and sociological record of life in Bamako, Mali, at the
time, the photographs capture with immediacy and intimacy the beauty
and humanity of the individual.
Now internationally recognized as a master of the 20th century
photographic portrait, Keita’s work has been exhibited widely in
museums and galleries worldwide including solo exhibitions at National
Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.;
Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France and Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France. Recent group exhibitions have
included: Roteiros, Roteiros, Roteiros, Roteiros, Roteiros, XXIV Bienal
de Sao Paolo, Sao Paolo, Brazil; Trade Routes: History and Geography:
2nd Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa; In/Sight:
African Photographers, 1940 to the Present, Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, New York; Big City Artists from Africa, Serpentine Gallery,
London. Forthcoming exhibitions include: The Douglas Hyde Gallery,
Trinity College, Dublin, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland and
The Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit.
Jean Marc Patras-Delon/N.O.M.A.D.E., Paris, is Seydou Keita’s worldwide
agent, and has established a foundation, based in Bamako, Mali, for the
preservation, promotion and study of Keita’s work.
Opening: January 27th from 6pm until 8pm.
Sean Kelly Gallery
528 West 29th Street - New York
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Friday from 11am until 6pm and Saturday from 10am until 6pm.