Contemporary art: Ernest Dükü or how to draw the invisible

Opened in 2019, the Orbis Pictus gallery – “the world in images”, in Latin – “promotes the dialogue between artists and artistic expressions in the form of crossed views since its first exhibition. This name comes from the title of the work of the Czech philosopher Comenius (1592-1670), Orbis sensualium pictus, whose front-page motto, “Let everything pass freely; let violence be far from things”, greatly inspired the founders of the gallery”underlines Sitor Senghor, its director.

For the latter, the main qualities of Ernest Dükü’s work are writing in all its forms, a restitution of African history presented in all his drawings through symbols of the continent that other cultures can relate to. appropriate. And a way to respond to all those who claim that Africa has no written history:

“This writing is transmitted to us by the beauty of the drawings. At first glance, we are fascinated by the richness of colors and materials. Then follows the multitude of cultural references that elevate us and eventually allow us to add our own interpretation of the works. »

Codes and messages to decipher

Ernest Dükü tells in ink, acrylic and sometimes with the help of collages the customary history of a symbolic Africa, working in Abidjan and Paris, in a desire for ecumenism. The call of the continent and openness to the world are omnipresent. From plastic and aesthetic research to codes and messages to be deciphered, his creations open up new paths on the complexity of the world, which take root for those who take the time to scrutinize them. An expression where each of us is led to question the unsaid that clutter our memories.

“Many reject the thought of spirits because they are invisible to our rationality alone. Protons, electrons, cells and other energies invisible to our human eyes are now embedded in our modern realities. I draw so that you wonder about the reality of the visible and the invisible. Can’t metaphysics be accepted as an intrinsic dimension of our human consciousness? »asks the artist.

Ernest Dükü likes to say that the forms of expression of the artists’ works challenge him less than the articulation of the questions raised by their practices beyond trends, currents, even schools. If Jean-Michel Basquiat touches it, it’s Basquiat voodoo (the painter’s father was born in Haiti), “the eye and ear of the diaspora, where he thinks he has a genetic memory in his relationship with the African continent”. Without forgetting The Ladies of Avignon, of Pablo Picasso, who question him.

On the literary side, the native of Bouaké cites the works of the Senegalese historian, anthropologist and politician Cheikh Anta Diop for his relationship to history in order to approach the universality of the world. And Edgard Morin for global thinking and his approach to understanding the world’s problems through complex thinking. On the music side, the painter evokes the politically committed Gabonese singer and poet Pierre-Claver Akendengue, as well as Abdullah Ibrahim, also known by the pseudonym of “Dollar Brand”, jazz pianist and South African composer.