CEINTURE NWAR

In 2022, Rakajoo received the Prix des Amis du Palais de Tokyo: Ceinture Nwar is the resulting exhibition. Curated by Hugo Vitrani, it is his first personal show in an institution and part of the autumn season of the Palais de Tokyo.
RAKAJOO, 1982, 2015.

"The meaning of his Wolof moniker tips us off: Rakajoo’s painting is stubborn. Like an ungrammatical hyphen popping up where we least expect it, his painting brings together and fuses disparate dynamics, drawing on his personal experience to trace a collective story. The hyphen that we could use to characterize Rakajoo’s painting disappears when we think in terms of the Afropean, a contraction of African and European. Extending the stories of authors Johnny Pitts and Leonora Miano, his work finds its roots in an Afropean soul that is characterized by duality and pluralism: a story about being both African and European all at once and without discontinuity.”
ー Hugo Vitrani
“The discovery of Rakajoo’s paintings is one of the greatest aesthetic shocks in the past few years. [...] In his videos and large paintings made of sharp lines and bold colours, the boxing champion brings to life different parts of his life in Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Senegal, and completely knocks the viewer out.”

ー Bénédicte Philippe
RAKAJOO, ENTRE LES CORDES, 2023

In Ceinture Nwar, Rakajoo exhibits monumental pieces in which he integrates his work in animation, acrylic and oil paintings on canvases that become installations, and drawings from his comic book Entre les cordes which comes out in January 2024 (Casterman). He goes as far as to paint the walls of the Palais.

"The artist brings together different languages, from painting to comics and animation, from acrylic to ink and to oil paint and pixels."
ー Hugo Vitrani
RAKAJOO, SALLE DE CLASSE, 2023 © Aurélien Mole, courtesy galerie Danysz
“It is hard not to be charmed by his urban compositions, the result of many hours spent sketching strangers in the metro and portraits of his friends, animated by masterful gestures, all sharp angles. His works are snippets of life into which we enter like a curious little mouse, and which seem to be captured in the midst of an action..."

ー Maïlys Celeux-Lanval
Exhibition view © Aurélien Mole, courtesy galerie Danysz
Rakajoo in his studio © Stéphane Bisseuil, courtesy galerie Danysz

After years spent boxing and working in animation, Rakajoo has gone back to painting since 2019. His work is influenced by various sources, the legacy of which can be seen in his works: from historical Western painters to contemporary African-American artists by way of comics.

Rakajoo is a French artist born in 1986. He lives and works in the Paris area. Baye-Dam Cissé, his real name, is a graduate of the Art & Image section of the Kourtrajmé school, founded by the director Ladj Ly and the artist JR. It was after returning to his roots in Senegal that he decided to adopt the pseudonym Rakajoo. First spotted in 2008 at his boxing club where he had painted a mural, he took part in a group show on the theme of sports in December of the same year, at the request of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation. He has since shown works in group and solo exhibitions in France, Luxembourg and China.
Exhibition views © Aurélien Mole, courtesy galerie Danysz

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CEINTURE NWAR IN A FEW WORDS
Ceinture Nwar by Rakajoo
Palais de Tokyo, 13 avenue du Président Wilson, Paris 16e.
From October 19th 2023 to January 7th 2024.

Opening hours: from 12pm to 10pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 12pm to midnight on Thursday. The museum is closed to the public on Tuesday.

Curator: Hugo Vitrani.