Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Kulango Figurines is designed to introduce various miniature works created by the Kulango in northeastern C te d'Ivoire, who were formerly vassals of the two kingdoms that inhabited the country (Bouna and Gyaman). Their extraordinarily varied art, which can be both intriguing and disconcerting, is relatively unknown. Their metal sculptures in particular display a strikingly free expressiveness, breaking as they do with the iconographic codes that govern their works in wood. Doing away with immobile remoteness, bodies seem to reinvent movement, sometimes adopting almost choreographic gestures, an airy grace, sinuous lines. Or, in trembling tension, some display unexpected twists and provocative curves, while others stretch out impossibly or offer a chance for virtuoso foreshortening and stylized bodies. Still others are even stranger, like Siamese twins, inseparable triplets, headless figures or figures with one head on two torsos, with one leg or four, webbed feet, outsize arms and hooped bodies. Who are these enigmatic beings whose bulging eyes peer at the invisible? Is the sculpture confined to just these specimens? The range of styles is simply astonishing, the forms beyond imagination. The collection includes over 100 figurines, none of which is over 10cm tall: pendants, amulets, fortune tellers' statuettes or weights for gold. Introduced into our world through the metamorphosis of photography, transfigured by lighting and framing effects, these resurrected works have been revitalized, like apparitions from another world. Text in English and French.
Synopsis
Kulango Figurines introduces the extraordinarily varied miniatures created by the Kulango people in northeastern Ivory Coast. These metal sculptures, both intriguing and disconcerting, display a strikingly free expressiveness. Bodies seem to reinvent movement, sometimes adopting almost choreographic gestures, an airy grace, or sinuous lines. Some display unexpected twists and provocative curves, and others are even stranger, like conjoined twins, inseparable triplets, even headless figures or figures with one head on two torsos. Beyond sculpture, the book includes pendants, amulets, fortune tellers' statuettes, and weights for weighing gold. Stunning and surprising, these works will intrigue scholars and collectors.
Synopsis
This publication is designed to introduce various miniature works created by the Kulango in northeastern C te d'Ivoire, who were formerly vassals of the two kingdoms that inhabited the country (Bouna and Gyaman). The range of styles is simply astonishing, the forms beyond imagination. Text in English and French.