Delphine Diallo "The Warrior Journey"
Space Un
Until Oct 27
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Artists
Delphine Diallo
Born into a French-Senegalese creative family, Delphine Diallo’s first expressions of artistry were in music, graphic design, and artistic direction. However, meeting North-American photographer Peter Beard (1938-2020) radically changed the course of her life enabling her to become a photographer in the full capacity of her agentivity and teaching her invaluable practical lessons. An observer of photography’s traditional gaze on women’s bodies, Diallo made it her mission to become a key actor in the deconstruction of its sexist and racist legacy. Since 2014, Diallo has been creating a visual language that would empower herself and the women who would become her protagonists and heroines. Her vision and mission for what these women are and should be would then take form thanks to body paint, jewelry, and various attires. Aware of the responsibility that comes with representing others, Diallo is centering ethics in her practice, creating long-term relationships and collaborations with her sitters. Throughout the years, Diallo developed a photographic expression that plays with spiritual symbols evoking mythology and giving black women their rightful place in the pantheon. Her work aspires to elevate her subjects by creating new legends. In that respect, Diallo challenges and redefines the historical genre of portraiture. Behind her carefully composed images, Diallo’s inspiration spans from her practice of martial arts and its relation to the body, to non-western literature, and is ever galvanized by her in-depth research on spirituality and sciences. Working mainly in digital and analogue photography, Diallo has been exploring the ways in which she could make images through an expansion of her tools such as AI, drawings, and found imagery. She has lately been diving into the world of collages and montages, expanding how she can convey narratives and share stories. Through her work, she has created her own way of “gazing back”, celebrating black women. Beyond assumptions, she aims at inclusive and transnational representations —dreaming of a future matriarchal society. Delphine Diallo proposes provocative visuals and crafts innovative iconographies to trigger the viewer’s politics and imagination.
In 2024, she embarked on a journey to train with Master Zen Takaia, a descendant of a lineage of samurai stretching back sixteen generations in Tsushima. In June, she participated in the space Un Residency Program in Yoshino, Nara, where she stayed to complete her collage works using materials shot in Teshima and reflected back on her journey.
In 2024, she embarked on a journey to train with Master Zen Takaia, a descendant of a lineage of samurai stretching back sixteen generations in Tsushima. In June, she participated in the space Un Residency Program in Yoshino, Nara, where she stayed to complete her collage works using materials shot in Teshima and reflected back on her journey.
Schedule Now in session | Jul 27 (Sat) 2024-Oct 27 (Sun) 2024 52 days left Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Jun 27 (Thu) 2024 17:30 - 19:00 Artist talk is from 17:00-17:30. | ||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Venue | Space Un https://www.spaceun.tokyo/  | ||||
| Location | 1F KLO Minami Aoyama Bldg., 2-4-9 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062 | ||||
| Access | 5 minute walk from exit 5 at Aoyama-itchome Station on the Ginza and Hanzomon lines or Toei Oedo line, 10 minute walk from Nogizaka Station on the Chiyoda line. | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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