Les Miserables (2022) is a human-scale canvas depicting a demonstration for undocumented workers’ rights on the Place du Trocadero, where the Eiffel Tower is positioned as a focal point in the background. Like a Gothic spire, it draws our attention upwards, conveying its status as a beacon of human progress while simultaneously evoking the keychains and figurines hawked by street vendors.

The symbolic irony extends to the predicament of these individuals who, despite being forced to make themselves conspicuous at risk of arrest or deportation in order to earn a living, frequently go unnoticed by the throngs of tourists and locals who pass them by.

SOIMADOU IBRAHIM

Les Misérables, 2022

Acrylic on canvas
230 x 160 cm

90 x 63 in

The paintings are warm and inviting, their subtle critique embedded beneath thick layers of paint applied in broad, straight strokes. For example, there is no indication that Ancient town, an anodyne painting of a sun-drenched house with brick lintels and a towering leafy tree, is taken from a photo in Grand-Bassam, the former French capital of the Ivory Coast, which in the 19th century became the starting base for colonizers exploring West Africa.

In this way the artist lures in the viewer, juxtaposing the formally abstracted depictions of his subjects with their politicized, if unspoken, contexts.

Soimadou Ibrahim

Ancient town, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
230 x 160 cm

90 x 63 in

The socio-economic circumstances of those faced with the decision to join the African Diaspora are evoked in Le bon côté de la Méditerranée and So Far to Go, in which Caspar David Friedrich’s famous Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (c.1818) is recast with a young African man staring out across a placid ocean toward the pale horizon.

Friedrich’s painting is considered an emblem of Romanticism in its portrayal of a young man contemplating his self-determined existence on the edge of a cliff before the great sublime, represented by the thrashing ocean below. In Ibrahim’s version, the contemplative, romantic atmosphere of the composition is subverted by the harsh reality that faces the majority of young people in Comoros: the decision to pursue better opportunities for themselves and their family, with the knowledge of the danger and adversity this entails.

"Taken from the French national anthem, Le jour de gloire or The glory day, points to the simple pleasures in life, like getting a haircut. For people of colour, particularly black men, the barber shop is thought of as a safe space where you can be yourself without judgement, laugh and share anecdotes with others who can relate. For some men, going to the barber shop becomes the highlight of their week because walking out with a clean cut gives them a sense of pride and confidence." — Soimadou Ibrahim

Soimadou Ibrahim

Le jour de gloire, 2022

Acrylic on canvas
210 x 150 cm

83 x 60 in

Soimadou Ibrahim (b. 1989, France) currently lives and works in London, UK. His works are usually adapted from archival photographs, pictures taken by the artist himself, memories, and imagination. They each portray the importance of family, of life itself and hope, illustrated by straight lines, bold gestural strokes and bright colours inspired by his studies in graphic design and art. In essence, Ibrahim uses the practice of painting as a way to reconnect and engage with his roots.

He holds an MA in Graphic Design and Art Direction from the Campus Fonderie de l’Image, Paris (2016) and an MA in Graphic Design and Digital Art from Rennes-II University, Rennes (2015). Solo exhibitions include ‘For life is not eternal’, SFA Advisory (New York, 2021); ‘Farewell Savane’, Kotaro Nukaga (Tokyo, 2021);  ‘Distant Relatives’, Bill Brady Gallery (Los Angeles, 2021); and ‘My thoughts tell me tales’, ATM Gallery (New York, 2021). Ibrahim’s work has been included in the group exhibitions ‘Ridiculous Sublime’, SFA Advisory (New York, 2021); and  ‘Isolation Mastered’, JD Malat Gallery (London, 2020).

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