SAADIO

SAADIO’s full name is Mamadou Sadio Diallo. Self-taught, SAADIO depicts Senegalese society in the style of colorful pop art. “I started to work in the electronics field. I loved drawing and painting, but my parents did not want me to get into that area of work,” explained SAADIO. He first started painting during the “Set Setal” movement in 1990, where he created large murals in the different neighborhoods of Dakar. It is at that time that he discovered the works of JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT. “Dakar is lively and colorful, a city of resourcefulness and of consumerism. Pop art was born out of the infernal rhythm of consumerism which began after the Second World War,” he explains. SAADIO exhibits his artwork in Senegal and also internationally. He was part of two auction sales in Paris in 2019 and 2020 for Piasa, and one in Rennes, also. In 2021, he was in 2 solo exhibitions: one in the African Art Beats Contemporary Art Gallery in Washington DC and the other one in “aKaz! ATL” gallery in Atlanta. He lives and works in Ouakam.

The works presented focus on the link between man and domestic animals, whereby the artist considers the long companionship between man and animal.