Shadow Artist Saïdou Dicko
Why are you hearing about artist Saidou Dicko and many others (in the near future) it is because we came across DesignMuseum.Org where there is an exhibition in which artists from Africa were asked to design "...a new football kit that celebrates Africa’s unique visual identity and culture....". And with that they listed prominent artists such as Saïdou Dicko, Godfried Donkor, Ernest Düku, Hasan and Husain Essop, Samba Fall, EL Loko,
Hentie van der Merwe, Owanto, Zineb Sedira, and Barthélémy Toguo.
On our path to learn more about Mr. Dickos' work we came across a few great websites such as African Success, ArtMatters, and ArtSync which all gave pieces of insight into the primary theme in Mr. Dickos' artwork.
Since he was a youth Nubian King Saidou Dicko found himself drawn to shadows (no pun intended) even at those times when he was a sheep herder tracing the curvilinear outlines of those sheep which depended on him so. From that point forward to the present, Saidou illustrates his life through the shadows of his subjects, as seen below.
If y0u notice, the background that the silhouetted subject rests upon is always gritty and urban. Hungry. We wonder if that is to give those who struggle so much a voice or a glimpse into the genius that is the life of Saidou Dicko - who hailed from Burkina Faso and now blesses Dakar, Senegal as his home.
Mosaïque monde. 2005-2009
As a youth Saidou expressed his artistic drive by performing shadow plays and partaking in art classes which eventually led him to participate in his first exhibition titled Dak’Art; which luckily enough for you artists out there is accepting applicants until the end of this year (early December 2011) for their 2012 competition. Saidou also participated in Bamako in Toronto. We really enjoyed being introduced to Saidou and his works and we know that we will never look at a shadow or silhouette the same.
