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Rakajoo
The Three Castles,

Rakajoo: The Three Castles

Past viewing_room
  • Rakajoo (aka Baye-Dam Cissé) is an emerging talent on the French art scene. Self-taught and versatile, the artist was first...

    Rakajoo (aka Baye-Dam Cissé) is an emerging talent on the French art scene. Self-taught and versatile, the artist was first spotted in 2008 at the inauguration of the gigantic 300m2 fresco he created for his boxing club in Aubervilliers, north of Paris. He was then invited to present an exhibition on the theme of sport for the annual event of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation at the Théâtre du Châtelet in December of the same year.

     

    This was the starting point of his career as a painter, followed by various group exhibitions such as Boxe! Boxe! at the Blachère Foundation in 2012, another exhibition revolving around sport for the artist who used to be a boxing champion, or the 12x12 Festival at the National Museum of History of Immigration in Paris, in 2015, where he questioned the notion of migration with different portraits placed one after another, positioning himself as a "witness" who observes the flows of people that are characteristic of our modern societies. In 2016, a group exhibition was held at Mariton gallery - Centre des Sciences et des Arts in Saint-Ouen, where he presented, together with students from the Joséphine Baker middle school, the comic book Between the Ropes that he directed.

     

     

  • Rakajoo, Canon de Beauté!, 2021
    Artworks

    Rakajoo

    Canon de Beauté!, 2021
    Acrylic and oil on canvas
    195 x 130 cm
    76 3/4 x 51 1/8 in
    • Rakajoo Déjeuner d'Ecrans sur le Béton, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 80 x 100 cm 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in
      Rakajoo
      Déjeuner d'Ecrans sur le Béton, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      80 x 100 cm
      31 1/2 x 39 3/8 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Clémenceau (collège), 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 46 x 33 cm 18 1/8 x 13 in
      Rakajoo
      Clémenceau (collège), 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      46 x 33 cm
      18 1/8 x 13 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Sur les Quais de Châtelet, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 150 x 180 cm 59 1/8 x 70 7/8 in
      Rakajoo
      Sur les Quais de Châtelet, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      150 x 180 cm
      59 1/8 x 70 7/8 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Blond, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 190 x 145 cm 74 3/4 x 57 1/8 in
      Rakajoo
      Blond, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      190 x 145 cm
      74 3/4 x 57 1/8 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Vitrine, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 147 x 114 cm 57 7/8 x 44 7/8 in
      Rakajoo
      Vitrine, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      147 x 114 cm
      57 7/8 x 44 7/8 in
      View more details
  • In 2017 Rakajoo took part in the group exhibition Des Gosses at BAB’s gallery, an exhibition of young Afro-descendant artists. The opportunity to shed light, away from the clichés, on the self-questioning of a generation "both lost and moulded in this double culture" that is Afro-Europeanity.

     

    In 2020, the artist graduated from the Art & Image department of the Kourtrajmé School founded by JR and director Ladj Ly. The same year, he and his schoolmates showed their work at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in the group exhibition Jusqu’ici tout va bien, a show that took the form of a workshop and explored the relationship between the films La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995) and Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019). Specially produced for the event, the works were ranging across various mediums, including video works, and were directly inspired by scenes of the two films, but also by stories from the daily life of the artists. It resulted in a series of poignant and socially-committed works that questioned the worldview of the media and the political world, as well as "pointing the appropriation of street cultures by fashion brands [...] denouncing the under-representation of women in society" and addressing strong themes such as machism and homophobia, not forgetting the solidarity that can emerge from these social contexts.

     

    In 2021 was held the collective exhibition Transport Commun, exploring "our increased fragility to others, to ourselves and to the environment", with artworks from the Société Générale art collection in La Défense, Paris, including photographs, paintings, sculptures, lithographs, etc. As a young talent, Rakajoo was invited to join the show. At the same time he continued to work on the making of an animation series, Kaname, as a writer and content designer. 

  • Entering Rakajoo's world

  • Rakajoo uses mainly oil painting. His artistic territory borrows from animated movies, comics, but also other painters, with references to the big names who inspired him - Vermeer, Whistler, Freud - while introducing his own variations. He likes to start each of his works on a red painted background, as was common in the past in classical painting.

     

    The artist confides that he was certainly influenced in his choice to become a painter by his family environment, and especially his grandfather, an architect whose first name he bears (Baye-Dam), or his mother who used to sketch clothes. From an early age he developed strong skills and a taste for drawing.

     

     “I learned to draw because I love to tell stories,” he says.

  • Video entries

    [On Show] Rakajoo : The Three Castles

    - - - Rakajoo (aka Baye-Dam Cissé) is a young 34-year-old French artist who just graduated from the Art & Image section of the Kourtrajmé school founded by Oscar nominated...
  • In 2009-2010, he created the animated series Fish ‘n Chips, Gnark and Scary Larry for Timoon Animation, as drawing artist and content designer.

     

    “I had stories to tell, I was someone who lived a lot in his head,” he says.

     

    Not restricting his field of practice, Rakajoo also creates sculptures. And he likes to accompany his paintings with sound or audiovisual installations to better enable the viewer to immerse himself or herself in the stories he tells.

     "It's a way of capturing the gaze of the viewers and making them dive into the world of the paintings. This is also why I use large focal lengths: to compel us into the heart of the paintings. " 

     

     

  • MORE ARTWORKS

    • Rakajoo Rue Château d'Eau, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 41 x 33 cm 16 1/8 x 13 in
      Rakajoo
      Rue Château d'Eau, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      41 x 33 cm
      16 1/8 x 13 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Attends ton Tour, 2020 Acrylic and oil on canvas 35 x 24 cm 13 3/4 x 9 1/2 in
      Rakajoo
      Attends ton Tour, 2020
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      35 x 24 cm
      13 3/4 x 9 1/2 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Jah Jah, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 200 x 200 cm 78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in
      Rakajoo
      Jah Jah, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      200 x 200 cm
      78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Marché Dejean, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 195 x 130 cm 76 3/4 x 51 1/8 in
      Rakajoo
      Marché Dejean, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      195 x 130 cm
      76 3/4 x 51 1/8 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Civile, 2020 Acrylic and oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm 51 1/8 x 38 1/4 in
      Rakajoo
      Civile, 2020
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      130 x 97 cm
      51 1/8 x 38 1/4 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo 40bis rue Myrha (Maison Château Rouge), 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 33 x 46 cm 13 x 18 1/8 in
      Rakajoo
      40bis rue Myrha (Maison Château Rouge), 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      33 x 46 cm
      13 x 18 1/8 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Transport en Commun, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm 47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in
      Rakajoo
      Transport en Commun, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      120 x 100 cm
      47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in
      View more details
    • Rakajoo Filiation, 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 33 x 40 cm 13 x 15 3/4 in
      Rakajoo
      Filiation, 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      33 x 40 cm
      13 x 15 3/4 in
      View more details
  • Rakajoo enjoys playing with perspectives and view angles in his paintings. He often asks his models to pose according to preliminary sketches, or he might also represent people encountered by chance and who have caught his attention. It is always a matter of capturing a personality as closely as possible and expressing a life through the brushstrokes. With his paintings, he takes the floor to better concede it to others. The others are those he meets daily, from all walks of life, relatives or people less close to him. His works are windows onto characters who carry an individual story but are also part of a larger narrative, that of the Afro-Europeans.

  • FROM THE STUDIO

  • Making of

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    Rakajoo by Stéphane Bisseuil (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Rakajoo by Stéphane Bisseuil

  • FOLLOW THE ARTIST

  • Stay tuned for more:

    If you wish to be informed privately before of Rakajoo's new projects and art, please email us
    STAY TUNED FOR MORE:
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  • Rakajoo, 70 rue Myrha , 2021
    Artworks

    Rakajoo

    70 rue Myrha , 2021
    Acrylic and oil on canvas
    33 x 41 cm
    13 x 16 1/8 in

 

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Danysz - Paris

____________________________________________
78 rue Amelot

(in Le Marais)
T. + 33 (0) 1 45 83 38 51
Open from Tuesday to Saturday 2PM - 6PM

and by appointment

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Danysz - Shanghai

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50 Moganshan Road, Building 7, #108

(M50 Art District)

T. + 86 181 21 42 53 13
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11AM to 6PM

 

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