On the occasion of the first edition of the Découverte program, dedicated to presenting a young Senegalese artist, Selebe Yoon is pleased to invite Ibrahima Kévé Mbaye for his first solo exhibition, entitled At the hour of Dakar.

Part of the young generation of senegalese artist, Ibrahima Kévé Mbaye creates paintings on canvas that evoke various moments of everyday life in Senegal: from road scenes observed and painted through the windows of taxis, to moments captured within domestic spaces as well as outdoors — from pirogue landing sites to the hair salons of the Médina. Through a practice rooted in reality, Mbaye portrays a youth whose faces remain unseen. His figures are often caught in moments of solitude or rest, in fleeting movements within bus stations, or in virtual connection through their smartphones.

Working from photographs taken with his phone during his own travels, his paintings function like a camera capable of slipping into intimate frames, both through the scenes depicted and the chosen compositions. To the fleeting nature of daily life and its frenetic energy is added a palpable sense of waiting — whether in the many forms of road transport, or in the stillness of shopkeepers in their stores. Each painting thus conveys a particular temporality, one intrinsic to life in Dakar. The Médina, the neighborhood where the artist grew up and which never sleeps, serves as a recurring backdrop.

Some works depart from this urban reality, immersing these same figures in a dreamlike universe set against celestial or floral backgrounds. In these moments of respite, detached from their context, the figures appear suspended outside of time.

(Text copyright by Selebe Yoon)