SOULEIMANE BARRY b. 1980

Souleimane Barry (b. 1980 in Burkina Faso), is a painter whose practice is rooted in his native African heritage, an intimate relationship with nature, and an exploratory approach to figuration. Now based in France, Barry describes his method as “imaginaryfiguration," a process in which forms emerge without preliminary sketches. Human, animal, and vegetal presences surface gradually through layers, transparencies, and reworked gestures, creating compositions that evolve in real time.

 

Guided by intuition, Barry balances control with release, allowing accidents to shape thework and reveal its emotional register.Technique remains discreet, never demonstrative, serving instead as a conduit for sensibility. Through this fluid approach, he dissolves the boundaries between living realms, weaving pantheistic, poetic narratives in which nature becomes an active, integrated presence rather than adecorative element.

Barry's formation includes training in calligraphy workshops in Bobo-Dioulasso and incommercial billboard calligraphy, experiences that nurtured the eclecticism of hispictorial language. Additional drawing and painting programs in Burkina Faso further strengthened his technical foundation and experimental approach. He has exhibited internationally and participated in major art fairs such as AKAA and Art Paris, steadily gaining recognition for his distinctive, continually evolving visual universe.