Boomerang

Pascale Marthine Tayou’s exhibition at Serpentine Galleries demonstrates his ability to combine issues of individual and national identity and global consumption.

Pascale Marthine Tayou’s exhibition, his first in the UK since 2008, will see the Serpentine Sackler Gallery populated by a diverse mix of sculptural forms that demonstrate Tayou’s unique visual language based on archetypes, made and found objects and traditional craft.

Mysterious human forms and fantastical beasts – such as the 100 metre snake of Africonda – incorporate materials such as cloth, wood, plastic, glass, organic matter and consumer waste combined with an artisanal skill.

Top: Pascale Marthine Tayou, Pascale's eggs, 2014. 
Alabaster eggs

. Photo: Ela Bialkowska, Okno Studio. 
Courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins. Above: Pascale Marthine Tayou, Africonda, series, 2014. Wash cloth, mask, dry hay, wood. Photo: Lorenzo Fiaschi. Courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins

Tayou, who began studying law before deciding instead to become an artist, began exhibiting in the early 1990s – a time of political and social upheaval across West Africa. With works often produced in situ, Tayou is renowned for combining found and discarded objects and materials – often sourced locally – with a skilled and playful sense of craftsmanship. “Boomerang” is produced by the Serpentine Galleries in collaboration with BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels.

<b>Left</b>: Pascale Marthine Tayou, <i>Octopus</i>, 2010. Photo : Ela Bialkowska, Okno Studio. Courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins. <b>Right</b>: Pascale Marthine Tayou, <i>Les Troubadours</i>, 2012. Drum with pins on foot in crystal. Photo by: Ela Bialkowska, Okno Studio.
Courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins.
Pascale Marthine Tayou, <i>Things Fall Apart</i>, 2014. Metal structure, painted grasses, masks, wood sculptures, notebooks. Photo: Lorenzo Fiaschi. Courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins
<b>Left</b>: Pascale Marthine Tayou, <i>Les Troubadours</i>, 2012. Drum with pins on foot in crystal. Photo by: Ela Bialkowska, Okno Studio.
Courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins. <b>Right</b>: Pascale Marthine Tayou, <i>The Falling House</i>, 2014. hotographic print on wood. Photo: Aurélie Tiffreau. Courtesy : Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins


4 March – 17 May 2015
Pascale Marthine Tayou
Boomerang

curated by Rebecca Lewin
Serpentine Sackler Gallery
West Carriage Drive
Kensigton Gardens, London