MOMAR SECK

 

Momar Seck is an award-winning visual artist, painter and sculptor based in Dakar and Geneva. Born in 1969 in Bargny, Senegal, he trained at the National School of Arts in Dakar (1994), before pursuing a fellowship with the Swiss Federal Office for Culture (1996). He then graduated from l'Ecole Normale Superieure Arts Education in Dakar and the School of Fine Arts in Geneva. He also completed a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Strasbourg (2012). Since 2003, he has held the position of Professor of Visual Arts at the International School of Geneva.
 
Momar uses painting and sculpture as his chosen mediums, focusing on recycled elements such as wood, plastic, tin and fabric, which are found on the streets of Dakar. The singular diversity of each creation works as a metaphor for the intrinsic diverseness of the world and humanity. His ''pluralistic units'', as he calls them, display textures and colours, and the blend of materials symbolizes the fragile interdependent unity between different cultures and cosmologies. Momar's utilisation of recovered materials and their reuse, comply with his views of the ''artist as a contributing citizen'' in the ongoing campaign to recycle and protect the environment. His works seek to immerse the viewer in the realities of everyday life, including waste and debris, while summoning up memories and traces of their origin, as well as their metamorphosis. He reflects our current existence, bringing out the character, fun and the recreation of discarded objects. Common themes found in his art tend to address societal issues such as consumerism, global communication and sexuality.
 
His work has been exhibited in Switzerland, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, France, Belgium, Italy, Cuba, and Canada. He has also participated in Dak'Art (Senegal)  and the Havana Biennale (Cuba). 

 

1969
né à Dakar, Sénégal
Ecole Normale Supérieure d'Education Artistique de Dakar
Ecole Supérieure des Beaux arts de Genève
Titulaire d'un Masters d'Art Plastique de L'université Marc Bloch de Strassbourg, France

1994 - 2001
Prof d'art et resp d'atelier d'expression artistique pour enfants

1992
Lauréat du prix de l'Ambassadeur d'Argentine à la Biennale de Dakar

1994
Major de sa promotion et sélectionné à la Biennale des jeunes
talents de Charleroi (Belgique)

1995
Sélectionné pour l'exposition d'art africain contemporain, Biennale Dak'art 96

1997
Sélectionné pour Live Art, lauréat du prix du public, Gstaad (Suisse)

1998
Sélectionné parmi 40 artistes présentés à la conférence
mondiale du sida (nominé du prix du jury) à Palexpo, Genève

1999
Représente le Sénégal à l'exposition "D'où viens-tu?" Europ'Art 99, Genève