Georgia O’Keeffe, Lawrence Tree, 1929
Week 22 - Episode 117 - Two Artists Looking at Tree in the Late Twenties
Ndary Lo, Arbre d’Origine © Sitor Senghor, 2014
Métal soudé et plastic
Format H54 x dia. 51 cm circa
Week 22 - Episode 116 - Ndary Lo's 'Arbres d'Origines'
A tree can be so many things.
Wood for warmth, or construction.
Food through its fruit.
Riches through resin.
Powerful protection.
A tree can us remind us of time passing. Of a collective memory.
And a tree can show us beauty whether through Spring blossoms or bare Winter branches beautifully silhouetted against a setting sun.
It can symbolise life, growth, family.
Immortality. Knowledge. Power.
A tree can stand for life. And death.
In my research on trees in art I came across the ‘Arbres des origines’ (Origin Trees) by Senegaelese artist Ndary Lo. It is a series of sculptures he began in 2008 for his installation Maraille verte, an artistic green wall.
In his own words:
“Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria, wanted to try and convince his peers in the African Union to fight the advancing desert and so he suggested constructing a giant green wall running west to east from Dakar to Djibouti. The idea seemed unfeasible to me and I was tempted to try and carry it out from an artistic perspective: the artist is here to render the invisible visible. …the tree has become symbolic in my work of protecting nature, of fighting desertification, of humanity at one with its environment.
These iron tree-shaped sculptures which seem very much alive, raise their multiple arms towards the sky, in what could be interpreted as an appeal for taking responsibility for a better environment. And this has only become more urgent eleven years on.
Sadly, Ndary Lo passed away much too soon at the age of 57 two years ago. And his early death means that very few people know of him and his work.
When I tried to find out more about him online there were very few resources available - and hardly any in English.
So today I’m using the theme of the tree to hopefully, in a small way, spread the word - help the world know and remember the work of a very talented artist who centred his work around them.
It is through trees that I found him, and I hope that his work will inspire us to both protect nature as well as close the divide between artists with easy access to the art world, and those who don’t.
Discovering his work has made me very conscious of how many amazing artists are out there, unknown to most of the world. I hope to find many many more.
And if you do know of such an artist do let me know so that I can feature them in a future podcast.
