Malick Sidibé Photographs: 1962-2008     Sep 12 - Oct 24, 2009

Maloney Fine Art is proud to present an exhibition of recent and vintage photographs by Malick Sidibé; the renowned 72 year old photographer's first solo exhibition in Los Angeles.

The photographs in the exhibition cover the broad range of Sidibé's studio practice since the 1962 opening of his Studio Malick in Bamako, Mali. Among the images on view are family, group and individual portraits, as well as dynamic images taken in the clubs and streets of Bamako. The exhibition also includes a dramatic series of images showing the bare backs of Sidibé's models, a recent development in the photographer's work. Vintage prints under painted glass with handmade paper and tape frames, along with newly printed editions will be presented.

Both business and communal meeting place, Studio Malick became a focal point for Sidibé's work as a reporter, documenting Bamako social events, parties, dances and many youth clubs in the nineteen sixties. After nights photographing Bamako's social scene, Sidibé would often return to the studio to develop and print his images, which he would then display in the Studio's windows. When the social clubs began to close in the mid-70s Sidibé ended his reportage, but continued with his studio portraiture:

"In my studio, I like doing composition work. The photographer's relationship with his subject is established by touch. You had to arrange the person to find the right profile, light the face properly to catch the outline and features, and find the right light to make the body look beautiful."

Both portrait studio and camera repair shop, Studio Malick has been central to the daily practice of Sidibé's art since its inception.

"In front of my studio it was always very lively! I'd put up a large sign: ‘Studio Malick,' six-feet-by-three, with a neon light. It was the only place that was lit up outside. It gave me lots of publicity but it cost me a lot too! At weekend that place was jammed! I had quite a name. Children came up and gawked at me and often went to sleep on the spot. Men would meet there and yarn. Around 9 p.m. the night clubbers would come and see their photos on display, and play cards or ludo. They would organize competitions and the winner would get a plucked chicken!"

This exhibition is organized in collaboration with Jack Shainman Gallery, New York City

Malick Sidibé was honored in 2008 with International Center of Photography Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement.In 2007 Sidibe was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Board of La Biennale di Venecia and in 2003 Sidibé was the recipient of the Hasselblad Award.

Recent exhibitions include Prospect One, New Orleans 2008, "Think with the Senses, Feel with the Mind" curated by Robert Storr for the 52nd Annual Venice Biennale at the Italian Pavilion 2007, The Cartier Foundation, Paris, 2004, ‘African Art, African Voices," at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004 and ‘Common Ground, Discovering Community in 150 Years of Art," Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington , DC, 2004 as well as many others.

Sidibé's work is included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, Museum of Modern Art, NYC, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Philadelphia Museum of Art, High Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, NYC, and many other institutions worldwide.

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