The Galerie Cécile Fakhoury is pleased to announce Patrimoine, an exhibition by Ivorian artist Jems Koko Bi, from 13 March to 12 June 2021 in Abidjan.
The artist explores the themes of identity and heritage through a group of previously unseen works. These include monumental sculptures whose strength lies in the precariousness of balance and the radicality of form, as well as a woodcut that Jems Koko Bi initiated in 1995, which he set aside and then resumed recently as a reminder of the work of the German artist HAP Grieshaber (1909-1981).
Jems Koko Bi proposes here a new definition of heritage, the essence of which would be the earth, the environment and nature as priceless riches, essential to preserve and transmit. The artist questions, among other things, the concept of memory, both individual and collective, and the meaning of homage. The exhibition includes references to the recent history of the Ivory Coast as well as more conceptual representations of an intangible heritage, that of the spirit of the forest, of which Jems is one of the most accurate representatives.
Jems Koko Bi, who lives between Abidjan and Essen, looks at the contemporary history of his native country with both distance and deep concern, making a symbolic and plastic work of heritage here. On this occasion we will be delighted to welcome you to the gallery and to present this new exhibition.
The Project Space will present the works of Soro Kafana, Le Moane and Serge Nemlin, belonging to the new generation of sculpture in Ivory Coast.
