Ousmane Sow is an internationally acclaimed Senegalese sculptor. The sculptor extraordinaire as many call him, had been sculpting since childhood and we are enthralled with his work.

Whether it is a Masai warrior with spear and shield, wrestlers coupled body to body (see illustration below) or the Toussaint figure created in 1989 in Dakar (acquired by Smithsonian in 2009 and illustrating this post, left), Sow knows how to tell a story. Each sculpture is unique and he creates his own medium; each piece is made of a number of ingredients to macerate over the years…

An introduction to Ousmane Sow, from his website:

Ousmane Sow was born in Dakar in 1935. His father, from Dakar, was thirty years older than his mother, who was from Saint-Louis. He grew up in Reubeuss, one of the liveliest areas of Dakar, where he received a very strict education and was given responsibilities at a very early age by his father. From his father he inherited discipline, a sense of duty, disdain for honours and a free spirit. When his father died, despite his great attachment to his mother, he decided to leave for Paris without a penny in his pocket. He was put up in police stations and discovered the gentler side of a France that was still a welcoming place. While working at various odd jobs, and having given up his courses at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, he obtained a diploma in physiotherapy. Although he had been sculpting since childhood, it was not till he was fifty that Ousmane Sow made sculpture his full-time profession…

Ousmane Sow is Senegalese, he is African and proud to be. When visiting his website, please check the Movies section and the film directed by Béatrice Soulé (PRV/Centre Georges Pompidou). It was chosen for the biannual Beaubourg Art film festival in 1996, for the Montreal Art film festival in 1997 and nominated for the International Emmy Awards in New York in 1997.

Impressive work…