
Aliou Diack’s practice distinguishes itself through his use of layering, using acrylic paint as a base before adding natural pigments and his own natural powders. Like Omar Ba or Soly Cissé, who similarly graduated from l’École Nationale des Arts des Beaux-arts de Dakar, he fills his universe with neo-naturalist motifs. Living in Dakar, Diack is inspired by memories from his childhood village and in particular its natural environment. Uprooted in a hostile urban jungle, he describes himself as a ‘farmer that plows the land. I search and research, until I find a life and I become that life, regardless of its sense’. In his canvases, bestiaries come to life and birds, insects and felines hybridise. Each work tells a story rooted in the traditions and beliefs of his childhood. He previously exhibited at Dak’art – Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain, Dakar (2018) and Art Paris Art Fair, Paris (2017).