Originally trained as a medic before taking up art, Kura Shomali lives and works in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His works evoke the chaos and complexity of Africa’s second largest city, collaging media, textures and colours in a bid to conjure the sights and sounds of the streets. Included in the Saatchi Gallery’s 2013 exhibition Paper,the present work is an example of his anonymous ‘passerbys’: faceless figures, dressed in outlandish attire, who pose before the artist as if suddenly caught off guard. Inspired by the reams of advertising and printed media that circulate throughout the city, Shomali appropriates images by African photographers such as Seydou Keita, Samual Fosso, Sammy Baloji, Malick Sidibe and Depara. He also makes puppets from recycled materials, which he then casts as characters in video works that address contemporary socio-political issues. His works have been shown in group exhibitions at the Museum of Marrakech, Magasin Grenoble and the Cartier Foundation, Paris. A solo exhibition is scheduled in Kinshasa this year.
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