Omar Ba

The artist

Born in 1977 in Senegal, Omar Ba lives and works in Dakar. His paintings, produced using a variety of techniques and materials, represent political and social motifs open to multiple interpretations. His artistic vocabulary raises historical and timeless questions while formulating a wholly contemporary artistic message.  Omar Ba’s iconography features personal metaphors, ancestral references and hybrid figures. This combination of heterogeneous elements illustrates his desire to abolish boundaries and categories. His work, with its enigmatic nature and poetic intensity, rejects all forms of didactic narrative, seeking instead to express his subconscious and his symbolic interpretation of the real


Exhibitions

Biography

Birth Born in 1977 in Senegal
Residence Lives and works in Dakar, Senegal
Education ECAV-MAPS Arts in Public Spheres, Sierre, Switzerland
Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-arts, Geneva, Switzerland
Ecole National des Beaux-Arts, Senegal

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2024 Clin d’œil à Cheikh Anta Diop - Un continent à le recherche de son histoire, Siège de l’Organisation des Nations Unies, New York, USA
TEMPLON, Paris, France
2023 Destins Communs, Kunsthalle, Mulhouse, France
2022 Omar Ba: Political Animals, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, USA
Clin d’oeil, FIAF Gallery, New York, USA
Right of Soil – Right to Dream, Templon, New York, USA
A Journey Beyond Illusion / Voyage au-delà de l’illusion, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
2021 Sommation, Wilde, Basel, Switzerland
Anomalies, Galerie Templon, Brussels, Belgium
2020 Same Dream, Contemporary Calgary, Calgary, Canada
2019 Omar Ba : Visions partagées, Montreal Museum of Fina Arts, Montreal, Canada
Same Dream, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada
The power of objects, Wilde Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
2018 Autopsie de nos consciences, Galerie Templon, Paris, France

Voir plus

2017 Supernova, Hales Gallery, London, UK
2016 Eclosion, Galerie Templon, Brussels, Belgium
2015 Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
Galleria Giuseppe Pero, Milan, Italy
2014 Gallery Hales, London, UK
Eclipse, Gallery Guy Bärtschi, Geneva, Switzerland
2013 Pandore, Gallery Le Manège, Institut Français de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
Claudia Comte & Omar Ba, CentrePasquArt, Bienne, Switzerland
2012 Le Monde des Apparences, Gallery Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
2011 Fiction ou Réalité, Gallery Guy Bärtschi, Geneva, Switzerland
Wait and See, Gallery 1000eventi, Milan, Italy
2010 Projet Room, Gallery Guy Bärtschi, Geneva, Switzerland
XXL, Galerie 1000eventi, Milan, Italy
2008 Art en l’Ile, Geneva, Switzerland
2007 Espace Kis, Geneva, Switzerland

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2024 Biennale de Dakar, Sénégal
Avant-garde and liberation contemporary art and decolonial modernism, mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria
2020 Global(e) Resistance, Musée national d’art moderne - Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
2019 From the Paper to the Wall, Galerie Templon, Brussels, Belgique
2018 40 ans de passion, Omar Ba, Prune Nourry, Tunga, Fondation Fernet-Branca, Saint-Louis, France
Quel Amour ?!, Musée d’art Contemporain, Marseille, France
Afrique. Artistes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, Fondation Clément, Martinique, France
D’Afrique aux Amériques: Picasso en face-à-face, d’hier à aujourd’hui, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
2017 Zoocryptage, Crypte Sainte-Eugénie, Biarritz, France
Afrique, raconter le monde, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milano, Italy
Le Havre – Dakar, Partager la mémoire, Muséum d'histoire naturelle du Havre, France
Art/Afrique, Le Nouvel Atelier, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
En toute modestie – Archipel Di Rosa, Miam Sète, Sète, France
Festival Afropolitan, Bozar Brussels, Belgique
2016 Salon d’Automne, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Mauvaises Graines 2, Topographie de l'Art, Paris, France
You Go To My Head, Galerie Templon, Brussels, Belgium
2014 Summer Exhibition 2014, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Ici l’Afrique/ Here Africa. L’Afrique contemporaine à travers le regard de ses artistes, Château de Penthes, Geneva, Switzerland
Authentik Energie, Le Manoir de la ville de Martigny, Martigny, Switzerland

Voir plus

2013 Collective II, Gallery GuyBärtschi, Geneva, Switzerland
VITALIC, Hales Gallery, London, UK
I’m your neighbour !, Bromer Art Collection, Roggwil, Switzerland
Primitive Cabaret : A Spiritual Voodoo confrontation, Gallery Polad-Hardouin, Paris, France
Situation 2, Ferme-Asile, Sion, Switzerland
Utopie picturale, Villa Dutoit, Geneva, Switzerland
2012 STILL LIFE, Gallery 1000eventi, Milan, Italy
La Jeunesse est un art, Aargauer Kunthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
Exposition collective, Gallery Guy Bärtschi, Geneva, Switzerland
La forêt rouge, Musée de Bagnes, le Chäble, Switzerland
Ambiguous Creatures in a Fragile World, Gallery Sanaa, The Netherlands
2011 Apparition, Villa Bernasconi, Grand-Lancy, Switzerland
Tu vois c’que j’veux dire, EX-EPA, Vevey, Switzerland
Inner Landscapes, Gallery Sanaa, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Dessin aujourd’hui et demain 7, Espace Kugler, Geneva, Switzerland
Resonance/ Dissonance, Gallery Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France
2010 20 ans déjà !, Gallery Guy Bärtschi, Geneva, Switzerland
Villa Sovietica, Musée d’ethnographie, Geneva, Switzerland
2009 When I was a King, Circuit - L’Urbaines, Lausanne, Switzerland
I am by birth a Genevese, Vegas Gallery, London, UK
I am by birth a Genevese, Forde, Espace d’art contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland
2006 Ganga Gallery, Bogota, Colombia
2005 Académie de Belle Arte, Brescia, Italy

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)

Centre National des Arts Plastiques, France
Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain (FMAC) de la ville de Paris, France
Collection du Credit Suisse, Switzerland
Collection Louis Vuitton Fondation, France
Collection Mirabaud, Switzerland
Collection Nationale Suisse, Basel, Switzerland
Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain (FMAC) de la ville de Genève, Switzerland

Voir plus

La Poste Suisse, Switzerland
Louvre Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Canada

BIBLIOGRAPHY (SELECTION)

2022 Omar Ba, Galerie Templon
2019 Omar Ba, Same Dream, No. 8, The Power Plant Pages, The Power Plant Contemporary Ar Gallery, under the edirtorship of Gaëtane Verna, Toronto, Canada
2016 Exhibition catalogue, Mauvaises Graines, Edition Topographie de l'Art, Paris, France
2014 Omar Ba, La Prophétie des Gens de Durban / The Prophecy of the People of Durban, Hales Gallery, Paris, France

Press Release

RFI - novembre 2024

De Amadou Hampâté Ba à Omar Ba

Yasmine Chouaki

LE POINT - octobre 2024

Quand l'artiste Omar ba sublime l'œuvre d'Amadou Hampâté Bâ

Antoine Kauffer

Connaissance des arts - December, 2024

Sur le chemin de la connaissance


TV5 Monde - November, 2024

Sénégal : Omar Ba peint l'épopée Kaïdara

Pascale Achard

Beaux-Arts Magazine - November, 2024

Les peintures magiques d'Omar Ba inspirées d'un conte peule réunies dans un livre et une expo

Maïka Bauwens

Jeune Afrique - November, 2024

Et Omar Ba magnifia la sagesse peule

Nicolas Michel


Brooklyn Rail - December, 2022

Omar Ba, in conversation with Emann Odufu

Hyperallergic - octobre 2022

Unboxing the Origins of Civilization

Anne Whiting


Les echos - Septembre 2022

Art : le marché américain retrouve des couleurs

Martine Robert

The Art Newspaper - septembre 2022

Toasting Manhattan's newest galleries and more Armory Week festivities

Beaux Arts Magazine - juin 2022

Sur la planète Omar Ba

Malika Bauwens


Agence France-Presse (AFP), repris par le média Konbini Arts - juin 2022

Qui est Omar Ba, l'artiste qui fait sensation en "réinventant" la peinture ?

Reportage à Bambilor de Lucie Peytermann

France TV info - mai 2022

Biennale de Dakar

Lucie Peytermann - Agence France-Presse (AFP)

Art Passions - mars 2021

Les visions hallucinées d'Omar Ba

Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter


RFI - mars 2021

L'exposition "Anomalies", de l'artiste sénégalais Omar Ba

Le Vif l'Express - février 2021

Une oeuvre à la loupe

Arts Libres - février 2021

Omar Ba critique et chromatique

Roger Pierre Turine


Connaissance des arts - octobre 2019

Nouveau talent à la FIAC 2019 : Omar Ba

Myriam Boutoulle

Art Daily - octobre 2019

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts : Omar Ba


ArtReview - décembre 2018

Omar Ba, autopsie de nos consciences

Violaine Boutet de Montvel

Whitewaller - octobre 2018

Omar Ba's critical new works at Galerie Templon

Katy Donoghue

L'Obs - 10 octobre 2018

Omar Ba repeint l'Afrique

Bernard Géniès


Figaroscope - septembre 2018

Omar Ba, un talent brut

Sophie de Santis

Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot - septembre 2018

Omar Ba. Autopsie de nos consciences

Alain Quemin


Artension - septembre 2018

Omar Ba - Entretien

Barbara Tissier

Connaissance des arts - septembre 2018

L'univers hybride d'Omar Ba

Myriam Bouttoule


LeMonde.fr - août 2018

Omar Ba, nouvelle coqueluche des collectionneurs français

Roxana Azimi

HuffingtonPost.fr - 8 novembre 2017

Que peut-on voir au Louvre Abou Dhabi ?

Jeune Afrique - mars 2017

Omar Ba - De bas en haut

Olivier Caslin


H ART - 23 juin 2016

Omar Ba

Christine Vuegen

H ART - 23 juin 2016

Les papiers peints d'Omar Ba

Catherine Angelini

Le Vif Weekend - 17 juin 2016

Omar Ba - Energie vitale

M. V.


Mu in the city - 9 juin 2016

Le bestiaire d'Omar Ba

Muriel de Crayencour

News

Omar Ba
SAME DREAM – SOLO SHOW

THE POWER PLANT, TORONTO, CANADAFrom 26/01/2019 to 12/05/2019

The Power Plant presents Omar Ba’s first institutional solo exhibition.Omar Ba’s work engages with some of the most urgent issues of our time: the growing inequality of wealth and power globally, questions around immigration, and our changing relationship with the natural world. His penchant for depicting personal narratives alongside collective ones speaks to the“in-between” condition of his work, as he splits his time between Dakar, Senegal and Geneva, Switzerland, and blends the visual texture of both places through his practice. Ba draws from and intertwines a range of elements— the historical and contemporary, figurative and abstract imagery—from African and European cultures, and the techniques and tools he employs; including corrugated cardboard and canvas, paintbrushes and his hands. Additionally, Ba’s chosen materials are typically selected from his immediate surroundings and repurposed in creative ways. He prepares his surfaces—whether cardboard, canvas or wall—with a black ground, upon which he layers a vivid palette dominated by primary colours. His paintings teem with details as micro-worlds transpire within larger constellations, oscillating between bold planes of colour and intricate outlines, which unravel across their surfaces. The figures and forms portrayed are largely symbolic, referring not to specific individuals, but rather open to universal narratives.    Same Dream brings together several of Ba’s paintings depicting dictators and authority figures, who lead corrupt and violent regimes across the African continent and in other parts of the world, particularly where the legacies of colonialism persist. At times represented as hybrid beasts—part human, part animal— these despotic warlords are typically enveloped in an abundance of lush flora and fauna. Indeed, nature becomes a recurring force across Ba’s oeuvre. These biomorphic shapes are often inspired by Senegal’s dazzling coastal environment in which Ba grew up. In conversation with this group of paintings, the exhibition also presents works that reveal Ba’s affinity for portraying the strength of the human spirit –depictions of youth who, regardless of where they are, share some of the same dreams for the future. For the exhibition at The Power Plant, Ba has developed a new large-scale work directly on the walls of the gallery, exploring a recurrent motif of birth, death and reincarnation across different cultures today. The world of Omar Ba’s painting is a hybrid one, ultimately evoking a shared cosmogony between humans, plants and animals.   Event January 26, 1.00 pm, Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Center, Free admission :  In Conversation, Omar Ba & Nabila Abdel Nabi. In this program, Omar Ba will discuss the evolution of his work with Associate Curator Nabila Abdel Nabi. The two will expand on the exhibition themes of the human spirit and the shared dreams and desires for the future. This conversation will conclude with questions from the audience.   Curator: Nabila Abdel Nabi.  

Omar Ba
Prune Nourry
Tunga
40 ANS DE PASSION – GROUP SHOW

FONDATION FERNET-BRANCA, SAINT-LOUIS, FRANCE From 27/05/2018 to 30/09/2018 

Omar Ba
QUEL AMOUR?! – GROUP SHOW

MAC (MUSEE D’ART CONTEMPORAIN), MARSEILLE, FRANCE From 10/05/2018 to 02/09/2018

In French, the expression “Quel Amour!? [What Love!?] is an existential exhortation that raises questions about the universal nature of love as well as its ever-changing manifestations across generations, cultures, civilizations, and even within the arc of a single relationship.This eponymous exhibition brings together the work of acclaimed contemporary artists from around the world that bears witness to the permanent role love plays in artistic creation.

Omar Ba
LE HAVRE – DAKAR, PARTAGER LA MéMOIRE (GROUP SHOW)

MUSEUM D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE DU HAVRE (LE HAVRE, FRANCE)From 06/27/17 to 12/31/17

Omar Ba
AFROPOLITAN – GROUP SHOW

FESTIVAL AFROPOLITAN, BOZAR, BRUSSELS, BELGIUMFrom 2/03/2017 to 2/05/2017

The Afropolitan Festival is three days of exceptional programming dedicated to Afropolitan art, creativity and state of mind, presented by BOZAR and its partners, with honorary guest artists Fredy Massamba, the great voice of Afro-soul, and Tatiana Silva, television presenter. Some thirty multidisciplinary events with over 70 artists and cultural players from Belgium, the two Congos, Ghana and Europe are articulated around three themes: the Belgian Congolese diaspora, Afropolitans of Europe, and bridges between Sub-Saharans and North Africans. The majority of the events are free.

Omar Ba
EN TOUTE MODESTIE, ARCHIPEL DI ROSA – GROUP SHOW

MIAM SETE, SETE, FRANCE From 02/02/2017 to 9/17/2017

The Exhibition En toute modestie – Archipel Di Rosa portrays this artiste from Sete, Hervé Di Rosa, through his influences, preferences and commitments. By bringing together 70 artistes, the exhibition explores the theme from contemporary art to pop arts, referring also to Outsider art, religious art and craft industry. Curator: Julie Crenn   With: ACM – Kwame Akoto / Almighty God – Pilar Albarracin – Elodie Antoine – Pierre Ardouvin – Marion Auburtin & Benjamin L. Aman – Omar Ba – Enrico Baj – Rina Banerjee – Raphael Barontini – Zoulikha Bouabdellah – Thérèse Bonnelalbay – Anne Brégeaut – Bernard Buffet – Marcos Carrasquer – Henri Darger – Hélène Delprat – Mathilde Denize – Dewar & Gicquel – Hervé Di Rosa – Jean Dubuffet – Christelle Familiari – Richard Fauguet – Harald Fernagu – Aurélie Ferruel & Florentine Guédon – Charles Fréger – Vidya Gastaldon – Romuald Hazoumé – Hippolyte Hentgen – David Hockney – Benoit Huot – Lydie Jean-Dit-Pannel – Milan Kunc – Yayoi Kusama – Carlos Kusnir – Charles Lapicque – Francisco Larios – Léa Le Bricomte – Mélanie Lecointe – Fernand Léger – Eugène Leroy – Natacha Lesueur – Aurélie William Levaux – Pascal Lièvre – Myriam Mechita – Elena Moaty – Pierre Molinier – Lucien Murat – Hassan Musa – Otobong Nkanga – ORLAN – Régis Perray – Guillaume Pinard – Agathe Pitié – Raphaëlle Ricol – Athi Patra Ruga – Lionel Sabatté – Peter Saul – Judith Scott – Sarah Tschann – Sarah Tritz – Willem Van Genk – Alan Vega – Erwan Venn – Marion Verboom – Adrien Vermont – Jean-Luc Verna – Gretel Weyer – Maria Jeona Zoleta – Unica Zurn.