Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux's solo show, at Paris + by Art Basel 2023, takes us into an intimate space, a mental and physical territory whose regions are defined by the artist's memories and recent travels between Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Martinique and Dubai.
During the year 2022, which was largely taken up by creative residencies abroad, the artist explored the question of how to define a space "of one's own" and "for one's own", both in life and in painting. The disruptive experience of a new language on a daily basis, of an unfamiliar yet familiar place, the long hours of travel create the conditions for distancing from oneself and open up a space where identity is free to reinvent itself in and from other forms.
For Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, the act of creation is an opportunity to define himself in his own terms. It is also the moment he chooses to embody a facet of contemporary creativity, fluid and exploratory, notably through a fruihul dialogue with the models of his works, painter friends, photographers and designers he meets on his travels. Through encounters and exchanges, painting becomes a place where inside and outside, the one and the many, are reconciled. The works are populated by matrix references that can be found from one canvas to the next, recalling the artist's family heritage (notably with lace), as well as existing seings sublimated by his imagination. Certain areas of the canvas, charged with material and streaks, add an extra dimension to the realism of the work, while paradoxically reinforcing the dreamlike, symbolic character of the seing.
The works are also the site of a silent conversation with art history. Scenes carry the vibrant immediacy of today's photography, while at the same time taking on the immutability of classical masterpieces, like the timeless skies that serve as backdrops and characters in the works. Elsewhere, painting steps out of its field and mingles with the object, affirming its desire to be part of the world. The screen, altarpiece and furniture, designed in collaboration with the artist's sister Orlane Lincy, are a conversaFon between medieval Christian art and traditional Akan forms.
The artist's works can thus be read as territories in themselves. In an uninhibited, contemporary visual dance, references borrowed from diverse universes, geographies and temporalities meet. Taking up the idea of the creolization of knowledge, which is dear to him and which he borrows from Edouard Glissant, Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux invites us to let ourselves be carried away by the chance of encounters and the crossroads of the imaginary.
