Sanou Oumar, 11/7/21, 11/20/21, 12/3/21, 12/14/21, 12/15/21, 12/21/21, 12/22/21, 12/25/21, 1/3/22, 3/3/22, 5/28/21, 6/30/21, 03/01/2022, 2021-2022. pen and marker on paper and paper board. 60.96 × 48.26 cm each (10 pieces); 101.60 × 81.28 cm each (2 pieces); 81.28 × 101.60 cm each (1 piece). Supported by the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Courtesy of the artist; Gordon Robichaux, New York; Herald St, London. The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale THIS TOO, IS A MAP. Seoul Museum of Art. 2023. Photo: glimworkers
Sanou Oumar, 11/7/21, 11/20/21, 12/3/21, 12/14/21, 12/15/21, 12/21/21, 12/22/21, 12/25/21, 1/3/22, 3/3/22, 5/28/21, 6/30/21, 03/01/2022, 2021-2022. pen and marker on paper and paper board. 60.96 × 48.26 cm each (10 pieces); 101.60 × 81.28 cm each (2 pieces); 81.28 × 101.60 cm each (1 piece). Supported by the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Courtesy of the artist; Gordon Robichaux, New York; Herald St, London. The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale THIS TOO, IS A MAP. Seoul Museum of Art. 2023. Photo: glimworkers
Sanou Oumar, 11/7/21, 11/20/21, 12/3/21, 12/14/21, 12/15/21, 12/21/21, 12/22/21, 12/25/21, 1/3/22, 3/3/22, 5/28/21, 6/30/21, 03/01/2022, 2021-2022. pen and marker on paper and paper board. 60.96 × 48.26 cm each (10 pieces); 101.60 × 81.28 cm each (2 pieces); 81.28 × 101.60 cm each (1 piece). Supported by the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Courtesy of the artist; Gordon Robichaux, New York; Herald St, London. The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale THIS TOO, IS A MAP. Seoul Museum of Art. 2023. Photo: glimworkers
Sanou Oumar, 11/7/21, 11/20/21, 12/3/21, 12/14/21, 12/15/21, 12/21/21, 12/22/21, 12/25/21, 1/3/22, 3/3/22, 5/28/21, 6/30/21, 03/01/2022, 2021-2022. pen and marker on paper and paper board. 60.96 × 48.26 cm each (10 pieces); 101.60 × 81.28 cm each (2 pieces); 81.28 × 101.60 cm each (1 piece). Supported by the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Courtesy of the artist; Gordon Robichaux, New York; Herald St, London. The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale THIS TOO, IS A MAP. Seoul Museum of Art. 2023. Photo: glimworkers
Sanou Oumar, 11/7/21, 11/20/21, 12/3/21, 12/14/21, 12/15/21, 12/21/21, 12/22/21, 12/25/21, 1/3/22, 3/3/22, 5/28/21, 6/30/21, 03/01/2022, 2021-2022. pen and marker on paper and paper board. 60.96 × 48.26 cm each (10 pieces); 101.60 × 81.28 cm each (2 pieces); 81.28 × 101.60 cm each (1 piece). Supported by the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Courtesy of the artist; Gordon Robichaux, New York; Herald St, London. The 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale THIS TOO, IS A MAP. Seoul Museum of Art. 2023. Photo: glimworkers
Oumar’s abstract shapes and colors operate as personal cartograms and visually woven renderings of memory, trauma, and culture. Some drawings reflect his own biography—memories of growing up in Burkina Faso, the physical and emotional displacement of his exile to the United States, and the intense colors and patterns derived from Vlisco(a characteristic African fabric) and Islamic tilework. Meanwhile, afterimages of such recollections and traditions become integrated with the artist’s daily objects, such as a vinyl record or an iPod case, which he uses to draw lines. Each drawing is undertaken as a part of his focused practice of producing one drawing per day, each containing his feelings in the present and attachments to the past, and giving rise to a momentary mental cartography of time and space.
