Painting our Consciences: Omar Bar
Senegalese artist Omar Ba explores the subconscious effects of war and violence through his paintings at ‘Autopsy of our Consciences’ at Galerie Templon
Omar Ba’s seemingly gentle paintings belie their complex and often challenging subject matter which ranges from the Second World war, the sacrificial aspects of maternal love and ecological issues. His current exhibition, Autopsy of our Consciences which is on display at Galerie Templon, Paris has a particular focus on Ba’s search to uncover the “annals of our forgetfulness”. Exploring the subconscious and symbolic interpretations of reality, the pieces use his trademark simple color palette of icy blues and vivid reds against a black background and mixes the figurative and decorative motifs and memories.
Painted in a mixed media of gouache, oil paints, Indian ink and crayons, often onto cardboard, the Senegalese artist bridges oceans with his work. Having grown up in Senegal and studied in Dakar before continuing his education in Switzerland the artist uses narrative to link both the history and his personal experiences of the continents together.
Over the past 10 years, Omar Ba has been part of numerous international group exhibitions including Quel Amour?! At the Museum Of Contemporary Art (MAC), Marseille earlier this year and the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 2017. His work has been collected by the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP) in France and Collection Nationale Suisse in Basel.
‘Autopsy of our Consciences’ will be on display at Galerie Templon until October 27
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