Abdoulaye Konaté

Symphonie en couleur is Abdoulaye Konaté’s first major solo UK exhibition. One of the most eminent West African artists of his generation, Konaté is known for his monumental figurative and abstract textile compositions, which balance political and social reflections with an exploration of formal colour composition. This presentation comprises entirely new works of abstract tableaux inspired by the hues found in rocks and minerals.

"Textile is always the thread: raw or subtly refined, from minimal to intricate, this ancestral and versatile material unshackles the work from the wall thanks to its texture, physicality and colour. Abdoulaye Konaté explores textile as an aesthetic that is contemporary yet also anchored in perpetually evolving traditions."

- Joëlle Busca

Konaté’s vivid, fabric-based installations have their roots in his Malian homeland. The woven and dyed cotton that he uses, draws from the country’s rich historical tradition whilst his adaptation of the materials roots his work firmly in the contemporary. Inspired by capes worn by Senufo musicians, Konaté has developed a system of using layers of coloured ribbons to explore painterly ideas of composition and colour. This sophisticated abstraction also alludes to the underlying relationship between colour gradations and musical tonalities, music being central to Malian culture.

The countless strips of cotton that make up each work are hand-embroidered and stitched together so that each artwork is deeply layered and laden with texture. Inspired by the region’s geology Konaté’s four metre wide Composition vert émeraude et rouge has a polychromatic patterning that recalls the colours found locally in amethyst, epidote, garnet and quartz. These jewelled tones also inform other works in the exhibition where subtle variations of colour and embroidered accents predominate.

Born in 1953 in Diré, Mali, Konaté lives and works in Bamako, Mali. He studied painting at the Institut National des Arts in Bamako and then at the Institut Supérieur des Arts in Havana,

Cuba, where he lived for seven years before returning to Mali. In 2008, Konaté was nominated for the Artes Mundi prize, Cardiff. He has received several awards, including the prestigious Leopold Sedar Senghor Prize at the Dak’Art Biennale in Dakar (1996); the Officier de l’Ordre National du Mali (2009) as well as the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France (2002). He is the founding General Director of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers Multimédia Balla Basseké Kouyaté in Bamako.

Selected exhibitions include; Abdoulaye Konaté, Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Copenhagen, DK (2016), Useful Dreams, Blain|Southern Berlin (2015), Abdoulaye Konaté, The World in Textile, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, NL (2013), Abdoulaye Konaté, Project Window, Iniva, Rivington Place, London, UK (2012), documenta 12, Kassel (2007); Africa Remix international tour including the Centre Pompidou, Paris and Hayward Gallery, London (2004-2007).