Yavuz Projects @ Sherman
16-20 Goodhope Street, Paddington, NSW 2021, Australia
Yavuz Gallery is proud to present Re-dressing the Portrait, a duo exhibition with leading Senegal-based artists, Omar Victor Diop and Fabrice Monteiro.
Re-dressing the Portrait debuts photographic works by the artists in Sydney. Investigating historic imagery, tropes and stereotypes, the works provide a critical dialogue on the oft-hidden narratives of African post-colonialism, identity and society. The exhibition presents series of photographs imbued with fashion, costume design and studio-style portraits, that challenge our perceptions and ideas of history and the experience of reimagining the portrait.
Located at 16-20 Goodhope Street, the exhibition will be held at the premises of the former Sherman Galleries in Paddington. Re-dressing the Portrait inaugurates ‘Yavuz Projects @ Sherman’, the first of two international exhibitions organised by Yavuz Gallery in consultation with Dr Gene Sherman AM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS AND THE WORKS
Omar Victor Diop (b. 1980) developed his interest in photography at an early age and uses the medium to capture the diversity of modern African societies and lifestyles. His multidisciplinary practice traverse across fine art, fashion and portrait photography, including the globally heralded The Studio of the Vanities, a series of staged portraits showing the new faces of art and culture scenes in African urban centres. Diop situates himself as subject in recreated historic portraits and sculptures of notable Africans in European history. Pitting their life-journeys and legacies against those of his own, Diop delves into the realities of being both narrator and character in his “Diaspora” series. These works force him to face his personal insecurities head on, using references to sport, in particular football, to show the duality of living a life of glory and recognition, while facing the challenges of being the “Other”. Diop has presented his works in numerous exhibitions across Senegal, USA, France, Germany, UK, amongst others. His works are collected by institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum (USA); Minneapolis Institute of Art (USA); High Museum of Art (USA); Frac Aquitaine (France); Tang Museum, Skidmore College (USA); Vitra Design Museum (Germany); Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University (USA); Collection Foundation Louis Vuitton (France); Musée de la Photographie de Saint-Louis (Senegal); and Cleveland Museum of Art (USA). Diop currently lives in Dakar, Senegal.
Fabrice Monteiro (b. 1972) showcases dynamic interplays between photojournalism and fashion photography. His practice examines societies’ myriad pluralisms, and the complex relationship between Africa and Europe – focusing on the constant fluctuation between attraction and rejection, empowerment and denial, recognition and anger. Born in Belgium, raised in Benin, and based in Senegal, Monteiro’s works are often biographical in inspiration, addressing difficult sociological questions relating to stigma, politics, religion and identity. Monteiro’s series, “8 Mile Wall” explores the stereotypical ways in which Africans were, and in some places continue to be, portrayed. He poses the question on how we can get rid of stereotypes such as – the good savage, Uncle Tom, Aunt Jemima or Mister Banania – and reconsider these historical legacies fed to us throughout history. Monteiro currently lives in Dakar, Senegal. His work has been exhibited in Senegal, USA, France, Germany, Spain, China, amongst others. His works are found in the collections of Chazen Museum of Art (USA); MEG – Musée d’ethnographie de Geneve (Switzerland); Iziko Museum (South Africa); Williams College Museum of Art (USA); Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago (USA) MACAAL – Marrakech Foundation Alliance (Morocco); and Musée de la Photographie de Saint-Louis (Senegal).
The exhibition is presented in collaboration with MAGNIN-A in Paris, France.