Mamadou Sow
From the small Senegalese village of Malika near Dakar to the World Wide Web - to the habitat of the digital art scene. That's Mamadou Sow. The 36-year-old Sow discovered his passion for bright colors and art as a form of inner confrontation with trauma, politics and life itself at a young age. But anyone now looking only for pretty colorful pictures has knocked on the wrong door with Sow.
Sow sees himself as a co-founder of the digital art era. Like no other, he uses sarcasm and virtual aesthetics to point out political grievances in the world. In his works, he processes his thoughts and the severe blows of fate that befell him as a small child in Africa. The turmoil as a growing black man in Germany and also the problems of global discrimination that plague him are reflected in his works. Sow has his own perspective on the world, and his art helps us glimpse into his universe.
During his periods of artistic creation, which he himself calls "flight mode phases," Sow literally isolates himself from civilization, sometimes working on his works for weeks at a time. On his iPad, he paints every detail freely by hand, without molding tools, and mixes every color himself until even the smallest detail matches his vision. As a result, the pencil can glide across the glass of his iPad for up to 150 hours before a work reaches completion.
In the process, he primarily uses his ability to lucid dream. This form of experience is often more real and meaningful to Sow than reality itself. In these dreams, he sees the future. A future in which money and material goods no longer play a role. But a future in which he sees himself as an essential factor.
"We can all influence the future. That's why I paint. Forever."
Mamadou Sow
(According to makersplace.com/mamadousow/about.)