DUGG by Ousmane Ba
May 23, 2026 at 11:00am ~ Jun 19, 2026 at 7:30pm
Between 2013 and 2017, the artist refined his aesthetic vision by working as a graphic designer for various French startups. At the same time, he drew inspiration from his travels and encounters to enrich his work. Senegalese, Japanese, and French cultures greatly influence the painter’s creations. When he decided to move to Japan in 2018, his artistic eye solidified. Through Nihonga, a traditional Japanese painting technique, Ousmane Bâ elevates the human form. Like sculptures in motion, the bodies come to life against a backdrop of washi paper collage. Warm and cold tones intertwine harmoniously, creating characters with diverse stories but a shared sensitivity.
Constantly evolving, Ousmane Ba is a versatile, chameleon-like artist who navigates between various cultural and geographical influences. He gained public recognition at the Dakar Biennale in 2022, where he exhibited his series of works titled Interweaving Entrelacement at Galerie Atiss. This was followed by numerous exhibitions around the world: in Paris at the AKAA African Art Fair, in Lagos at the prestigious Art x Lagos international art fair, as well as in New York at 1:54, in Geneva, and in South Africa. Resolutely cosmopolitan, Ousmane Ba remains deeply inspired by his Fulani roots, a traditionally pastoral people of West Africa. The celestial dimension of his works reflects an elevating intention, a desire to transcend the reality of space and time through art.
More recently, Ousmane has become more recognized with his showing at the Chanel Nexus Hall.
DUGG
DUGG means to enter.
To enter the water.
To enter a world.
To enter oneself.
I have always been drawn to those who dive.
In Senegal as in Japan, the diver is not simply a body in motion.
They are a figure of passage.
The Japanese diving women, the Ama, descend in apnea into the depths.
In their suspended breath, they vanish from the visible world.
They become something else.
They remind me of spirits.
Presences between two states, between two realities.
The diver descends to where light dissolves.
They cross the silence, face the invisible, touch what eludes.
To dive becomes a ritual.
An act of faith.
An initiation.
In many traditions, water is a sacred threshold.
The body is immersed to bless, to purify, to transform.
One plunges under to be reborn differently.
In my work, these figures are not realistic bodies.
They are messengers.
Beings in transformation, suspended between falling and rising.
Because here, to descend is already to ascend.
DUGG is that tipping point.
That inner passage where one leaves the surface to encounter what lies beyond.
Diving into one’s dreams.
Diving into one’s fears.
Diving into one’s memories.
To resurface carrying a different energy.
A different vision.
Schedule
Tuesday – Thursday by appointment only
Saturday walk-in 11am – 7:30pm
Closed on Sundays and Mondays
Information
Start: May 23rd 2026 at 11:00am
End: Jun 19th 2026 at 7:30pm
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