
The city of Dakar, in the backdrop of Douts’ paintings, has captivated and inspired the artist from his early days at L’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Dakar, where he graduated in 1999. The urban disorder of Dakar acquires a universal significance in Douts’ pieces: he paints and tames the sprawling metropolis in a dense pictorial language that he stretches in all directions. Douts was the 2001 recipient of the OFF Prize at Dak’Art—Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain. As part of the touring Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent exhibition, his works have been shown at Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf; the Hayward Gallery, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris and the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. His works appear in many public and private collections, including the World Bank, Washington; The Blachère Foundation, France; the Paul Styfhals Foundation, Belgium; the Lanka Foundation, Spain and the Barjola Museum, Spain.