Geneva based, Senegalese artist Cheikhou Ba returns to The Mojo Gallery for the first show of 2013. This solo exhibition titled 'Les Contradictions de la Vie' delves deeper into the artist's continued examination and deconstruction of the perceptions, attitudes and ambiguities that inform and shape the 'human condition'.

Through this stimulating and vivid body of work, Ba attempts to decode the question of 'How to be a better person?'. This daily quest or aspiration challenges our perceived freedom, will and basic independence. Because are we ever really free when we spend our time 'walking on eggs'? And at the end of 'life's journey' will we conclude that we have spent too much time 'calculating' rather than living?

In an attempt to express these thoughts and answer these questions, Cheikhou uses his customary powerful sculptural work and a palette of vibrant, unapologetic colours, dynamic line work and a keen sense of space to reveal visually the subject's value and vision. Layers of text, geometrical studies and 'fragments of being' add an element of ambiguity and invite the viewer to yield to a moment of introspection.

Heads and bodies are isolated from each other. Posing a question: 'Are they seeking to be apart, or working towards a union?'. Our minds are what make us who we are, and the depictions of heads demonstrates this, but as skulls there is finality in our equality. The fact that one isn't more intelligent, richer or more beautiful than the other forces us to ask what is important in this voyage called life.

As Cheihkou Ba asks: Can you be a better man in a better suit?

Image: © Cheihkou Ba, Mojo Gallery