SOIF DE POUVOIR
signed and dated N.F. Magassa / 21 lower right
acrylic, oil pastel and paper towel on canvas
117 x 107cm; 46 x 42 1/4in
unframed

Property from an Important Private Collection, UK

Provenance
Albertz Benda, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibited
New York, Albertz Benda, Famakan Magassa: Soifs, 2022

Soifs includes a body of work centering on anthropomorphic motifs that interrogate loneliness, addiction and friendship, inspired by the aesthetics and spiritual significance of traditional dancers from Mali, Kôrêdugaw (or Kourédougas), connected to spiritual and shamanistic initiations. Soifs articulates the polymorphic nature of being thirsty—from the intimate to the more public and institutional.

Famakan Magassa received his BFA in 2018 from Conservatoire Arts et Metiers Multimedia Balla Fasséke Kouyaté in Bamako, Mali. The artist exhibited for the first time in 2019 with several institutional shows, including presentations at L’Institut Français du Mali, Bamako; La Fondation La Maison de l’Artiste in Assinie, Côte d’Ivoire; and Les Magasins Généraux, BETC, Paris. In 2020, he was included in L’exposition collective Jeunes Talents at the residence of the Ambassador to the European Union, Bamako, Mali and was one of the 2020 Laureates of the Cité Internationale des Arts Residency in Paris, France.

Magassa was awarded the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize in 2023 and presented his first solo institutional exhibition, Famakan Magassa: Witness of My Time at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town. He has shown internationally in Paris, London, Miami, Ghana and Vienna, and his work has been featured by Artsy, Hyperallergic, Artnet, The Observer, L’Oeuil, Dyptyk and ArtsMagazine.