Ndoye Douts, a Senegalese visual artist, died on June 9th in Dakar, at the age of 50. The artistic community mourns this playful, generous, and prolific figure.
There was seriousness behind the apparent naivety and the childish trait cultivated by Ndoye Douts, a Senegalese visual artist who died at 50, in the prime of life. After graduating from his promotion in 1999 to the National School of Fine Arts of Senegal, he was already, at his beginnings, passionate about the “architectural disorder” of his city, Dakar.
Ndoye installations have often been part of the official program of the Dakar Biennale (Dak’Art), with a series of drawings reflecting his city and by extension, the intensely urban character of the continent.
Recently returned from Japan, where he had exhibited for a month, he said he was tired, testifies his friend Olivier Sultan, owner of the Art-Z Gallery, who has repeatedly hung his works in Paris: “The works of Douts perfectly reflected Dakar, whether it be his paintings, drawings or animated films, he showed the permanent ferment and the energy of his city, the presence of the crowd, with a very particular way at the plastic level of putting everything on the same plan”.