Born in 1970 in Dakar, Senegal. He lives and works between Dakar and Prague.
Graduated from Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts of Dakar and Lyon, Cheikh Ndiaye is particularly interested in architecture and urbanism. His work, made of paintings, photographs, films and installations, is driven by a singular look given to what is usually considered as ordinary or informal.
Cheikh Ndiaye's work has been displayed in several solo shows, notably, for the first time in Senegal, at Galerie Cécile Fakhoury - Dakar in 2018, with the exhibition Vox Ouezzin. In 2017, he was invited by the Maréchalerie - Centre d'art de l'ENSA in Versailles in France to present his monumental installation Hippocampus.
In 2013 and 2016, it is in Abidjan that Galerie Cécile Fakhoury dedicates two solo shows to his works, respectively (In)formal Visitation and Faire de la rue un salon d'extérieur. In 2012, the exhibition Cinémas Africas gather some of his paintings at the African Museum in Lyon, France.
Cheikh Ndiaye also participated to numerous collective exhibitions. In 2019, he took part in the 13th edition of the Havana Biennal in Cuba. In 2018, his work is displayed during the exhibition Sanguine. Luc Tuymans on Baroque at the Prada Foundation in Milano, Italy. This same year, Cheikh Ndiaye presents the installations Brises-Soleils des Indépendances in the international exhibition L'Heure Rouge during the 13th Dakar Biennal, in Senegal.
In 2016, his work is shown on the occasion of Figures, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. This same year, Cheikh Ndiaye takes part to the exhibition Contours, during the 12th Dakar Biennal, with an installation presented in Kër Thiossane, during the festival Afropixel #5 : Réinventer la ville (Reinventing the city).
In 2015, he presents the installation Blancheur rigide dérisoire en opposition au ciel during the international exhibition, All the World's Futures, at the 56th Venice Biennal curated by Okwui Enwezor. In 2014, his work is displayed at the Center of Photography in Geneva, Switzerland, in the exhibition Against the grain : la photographie à contre-courant. His works are selected for the Dakar Biennal in 2012 and at Galerie Le Manège in 2010 in Dakar.
Close to the field of academic research, Cheikh Ndiaye takes part to several conferences about the links between architecture and art. He also is the laureate of the Naturalis Art Temporary Price in Berlin, Germany (2012) and of the Linossier Price in France (2008).
His works are part of numerous international public and private collections, as the one of Centre Pompidou in Paris (France) ; of the CNAP - Centre National des Arts Plastiques in Paris (France) ; of the Kadist Art Foundation in Paris (France) and San Francisco (USA) ; of the FRAC Nord Pas-de-Calais (France) ; or of the Mohamed IV Museum in Rabat (Morocco).
Selected exhibitions: Busan Biennale (Corée du Sud, 2024) ; Senghor et les arts. Réinventer l’universel, Musée du Quai Branly (France, 2023) ; Cours du soir, Galerie le manège (Sénégal, 2023) ; Biennale de Dakar (Sénégal, 2022) ; Solo show, FIAC 2021, Grand Palais, Paris (France, 2021) ; Global(e) Resistance, Centre Pompidou (France, 2020) ; Vox Ouezzin, Galerie Cécile Fakhoury - Dakar (Senegal, 2019) ; Havana Biennal, 13th edition (Cuba, 2019) ; Dakar Biennal, 13th edition (Senegal, 2018) ; Figures, Centre Pompidou, Paris (France, 2016) ; All the World's Future, Venice Biennal, 56th edition (Italy, 2015)
Image: Cinéma Rio Lakota, 2017