Yassir Ali (Sudanese, born 1969)
Joy of Colours, 2018
Signed ‘signature 2018’ (lower left on lower left panel)
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 cm each (16 panels)
Ksh 300,000–450,000
(US$ 2,725–4100)
Sold Ksh 587,000
Provenance: direct from the artist
Yassir Ali, who grew up with a strong attachment to his Nubian identity, followed in the footsteps of several family members before him and entered the College of Fine and Applied Arts in Khartoum, graduating with a degree in Sculpture in 1997.
Although he trained as a sculptor, Ali’s artistic practice focuses on painting. His connection to his Nubian heritage is carried over into his work, where Ali explores the trajectory of Nubian decorative symbols and motifs. The traditions of beautification and a perceived universality of the forms and symbols, carried across time and cultures is the mainstay of Ali’s work. Symbols and bursts of colour emerge from layers of paint, reminiscent of the mud and pulverized limestone used in traditional Nubian houses.
Ali settled permanently in Nairobi in 2004, focusing exclusively on his art practice, and carving a name from himself in the artistic landscape of East Africa. He exhibits regularly locally, and has also shown his work internationally in France, Finland, South Korea, and his native Sudan.