Lecteur passionné depuis son enfance, la littérature, la philosophie et la dialectique du langage jouent un rôle majeur dans la vie et l'œuvre de Sess Essoh. Dans sa peinture il relie l'histoire, la sociologie, l'imagination à son art pour concentrer ses idées sur les lieux et les moyens d'atteindre un idéal et une libération à la fois réels et désirés.
Born in Toupah (Dabou region in the south of Côte d'Ivoire) in 1988, Sess Essoh graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Abidjan in 2012 with a Master's Degree in Art (Master II, option Mural Art). He lives and works in Abidjan, Bingerville where he has his studio and Dabou.
An avid reader since childhood, literature, philosophy and the dialectic of language play a major role in the life and work of Sess Essoh. In his increasingly abstract painting, he links imagination, history and sociology to his art to focus his ideas on the places and means of achieving an ideal and liberation that is both tangible and longed for.
His current practice is invested in the exploration of his socio-political environment and a society that he feels is losing its bearings and values, as he experiences it through his readings, discussions with friends and debates on social networks. The artist questions our collective memory, using a process of collages and graphemes that he puts either on unexpected supports (cardboard, archive pages, etc. ...), or on canvas. These graphemes draw and suggest figurines, masks, statuettes and challenge us to go beyond the pretenses in an effort to explore new horizons, another chapter of history.
He was awarded the second prize of the International Association of Art Critics of the Ivory Coast in 2017. His works have entered the collection of the Société Générale and many private collections.
Collective exhibitions (selection)
2020 ArtX Lagos digital art fair, LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery, Lagos (Nigeria)
2020 "Carte Blanche", Louisimone Guirandou Gallery, Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
2019 "MANsonge", Louisimone Guirandou Gallery, Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
2015 The Basquiat Art Gallery, Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
2014 The Basquiat Art Gallery, Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
2012 "Young talents of Ivory Coast", La Rotonde des Arts, Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
Solo exhibitions.
2021 "Nyansapo, silence is golden", LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery, Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
2017 Cité des Arts "Frictions", Abidjan (Ivory Coast). - "A kind of history", Sofitel Hotel Ivoire Gallery, Abidjan, (Ivory Coast).
Awards
2017 Second prize from the International Association of Art Critics of the Ivory Coast.