The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2022 Benefit Auction | Hosted by Sotheby’s

Hussein Salim

Garden of Carnal Delights

Lot Closed

February 22, 05:19 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 6,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Hussein Salim

Sudanese

b.1966

Garden of Carnal Delights

signed and dated 2020 (lower right); signed, titled and dated 2020 (on the reverse)

acrylic on canvas

120 by 150cm., 47¼ by 59in.

Please be aware of the Conditions of Sale when bidding. As a benefit auction, there is no buyer’s premium charged. The only additional costs due to the winning bidder are applicable sales tax and shipping. Works auctioned are sold “as is,” and condition reports are included with lot descriptions as available. In-person previews of the auction artwork will be available at Norval Foundation at 4 Steenberg Rd, Tokai, Cape Town, 7945, South Africa from 26 January – 22 February, Monday to Sundays 9 AM – 5:00 PM (Closed on Tuesdays). Please note that while this auction is hosted on Sothebys.com, it is being administered by Norval Foundation (“the museum”), and all post-sale matters (inclusive of invoicing and property pickup/shipment) will be handled by the museum. As such, Sotheby’s will share the contact details for the winning bidders with the museum so that they may be in touch directly post-sale.

This work has been kindly donated by the artist

Hussein Salim (b.1966, Sudan) is an artist whose work is informed by past and present, which are marred with memories of loss, isolation, migration, exile and forgotten heritage. As an artist, a central aim in his work is to draw light to the tiny details that no one pays attention to. Following his artistic training in Khartoum University, he attained his Master’s degree in art at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Inspired by diasporic, multicultural communal structures, his body of work celebrates this through extensive layering of symbols, rich colours and vivid forms.

Garden of Carnal Delights explores memories of growing up in the desert and a sense of being surrounded by emptiness. Total emptiness. Salim reflects this dialogue through the use of personal symbolism of his dual African and Islamic identity. The forms and colours mix, symbolising subliminal musings on identity and heritage. However, the shapes and forms in his work leave clues rather than explicitly demonstrating an idea. The busyness of each work requires quiet contemplation, asking the viewer to juxtapose the noise of the world with the act of quiet introspection. Salim’s paintings have been described as landscapes in themselves, mass grids of engaged surfaces, in which worlds and societies can exist.