Humans in Nature

Kassou Seydou, "African Cooker", 2017, acrylic on canvas

Kassou Seydou conjures a world where humans live in harmony with nature and each other. In the warm palette of his large canvases, nature is an inseparable part of the human figure and the human experience.

Seydou was born in 1971 in Senegal and educated at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts before coming back to Senegal where he lives and works.

Kassou Seydou, Red Bantamba (Red Afternoon), 2018, acrylic on canvas, 210 x 220cm, (c) Mestre Projects

Animalism, tree spirits and other symbols of the land as well as man-made objects populate Seydou’s canvases alongside the humans, weaving stories. The symbols speak of harmony and the connection between humans and nature while also underscoring the current lack of balance such as resource depletion, inequalities, and the dichotomy between urbanism and agriculture.

Kassou Seydou, "African Cooker", 2017, acrylic on canvas, 160 x 160cm

Through a reproduction of constant swirling shapes superficially reminiscent of Klimt (I wonder if the repetitive swirling shapes are a conscious reference to fractals - the never-ending patterns which make up so much of our world), Sedou tells stories of present imbalances alonhside a reality where people live in harmony, caring for the earth and for each other. The way I see it, his message is that this reality is both attainable and our natural state.

Kassou Seydou, “Two Spiritual Traits”, acrylic on canvas, private collection