Alexandre Diop

His rigorous approach to art making-what he terms object-images-employs found and recycled materials such as scrap metal, wood, paper, leather, plastic and textile remnants. These are sourced from scrapyards, urban streets and derelict buildings, then transformed through an intensive process of layering, burning, tearing, stapling and collaging onto wood panels. The resulting works exist at the intersection of painting, sculpture and relief. Elaborating on his choice of materials Diop says, "I always see the beauty in discarded things…these collected materials are my colour palette so to speak." 

Diop's works also reveal a rigorous drawing practice which combine calligraphic lines, symbols and images that are painted, drawn and sprayed.  Figures-often human or animal-emerge in theatrical, textured compositions, where remnants of packaging, colour or branding allude to histories of consumption, displacement and resistance.  His material language, while firmly rooted in personal and political narrative, also engages with broader art-historical lineages. His work draws from movements such as Dada, Art Brut, Expressionism and the Viennese Secession, while maintaining a strong dialogue with both West African aesthetic traditions and the visual codes of contemporary urban culture. Alexandre Diop was born in Paris, France in 1995. He lives and works in Vienna, Austria.