PRESS RELEASE

Out of Africa Gallery – Carrer Major 7 with carrer Nou – 08870 Sitges (Barcelona)

www.galeria-out-of-africa.com – sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com - +34 618 356 351

“S T R E E T A T T I T U D E”

5/12/2015 - 31/1/2016

KRISTINE TSALA Cameroon – Painting

S T R E E T A T T I T U D E

Kristine Tsala – 1979 – Yaoundé – Cameroon

Kristine Tsala (Cameroon) – Sweet Escal 2 – 2015 - 150cm H x

120cm W – Acrylic on canvas

Opening from December 5th until January 31st 2016,

Out of Africa gallery of Sitges (Barcelona) hosts

"Street Attitude", an exhibition of paintings by

Cameroon artist Kristine Tsala.

Kristine Tsala is one of the most prominent artists of

the current contemporary scene in Cameroon. A

member of the artistic collective 3Kokorikos, the 36

year-old artist lives and works in Douala. In her

paintings she reflects the abundance of life with a

proliferation of colour and form, which she labels

Street Attitude. In order to highlight and put into

context the slender, elegant and athletic figures

featured in the artist's work, the gallery will also be

showing a collection of traditional Bogolan textiles

and ethnic jewellery, carefully sourced during our

recent trip to Burkina Faso.

The role of female African artists

Over the last thirty years, the African art scene has

experienced an unprecedented development. A new

generation of artists has transformed the image of

African art, renewed and pushed the boundaries of

artistic expression, rivalling with the greatest creators

of the occidental world. The role played by women in

this change is undisputed. These female artists share

the same passion: to create, explore, undertake and

defy the codes that often chaff their skin. After having

exhibited Cameroon photographer Angèle Etoundi

Essamba, the Out of Africa gallery is truly proud to

present a second female African artist: Kristine Tsala.

Tsala's artistic vocation

Kristine Tsala, (Yaoundé, Cameroon, 1979) is a

daughter of the forest. She lived in her village

surrounded by majestic trees until she was eighteen.

Art resonated in her and she felt the need to depict

things in tune to her own sensibility and vision. The

figures Tsala paints have replaced the trees.

Kristine Tsala (Cameroon) – Photo de famille 2 – 2015 – 120cm H x

120cm W– Acrylic on canvas

Kristine Tsala (Cameroon) – Sweet Escal – 2015 - 150cm H x 120cm

W - Acrylic on canvas

Her mother played an important role furthering her

daughter´s vocation by signing her up for the entrance

exam to the Institut de Formation Artistique (IFA) in

Mbalmayo Cameroon. Kristine continued her studies

at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa,

Democratic Republic of Congo. Here she met

Cameroonian Samuel Dallé and Congolese Aza

Mansongi and in 2006 they formed the artistic

collective, 3Kokorikos. This collective was a source of

positive energy that continues even today to provide

an important support in her career.

Tsala's source of inspiration

The street is Tsala's source of inspiration. There are

men and women that the artist comes across daily as

they get on with life. The artist is fascinated with the

streets of Douala: their colour, what they look like, the

sound of the claxons, the spices, the scent in the air...

The women she depicts seem to converse as they

walk the streets or as they gather round enjoying a

drink.

Tsala's vision

The paintings are characterised by both soft and

bursting colours allowing the viewer to contemplate to

a canvas imbued with meaningful messages. The

slender and elegant figures with long necks are

stretched and blown up in size. Tsala's work thus gains

impact. Within a framework that merges mystical

signs and masks, Kristine Tsala offers a split vision,

that of inner conflict between what is visible and

invisible, and also that of the duality of modernism

and tradition in these difficult times of social

integration.

Tsala's technique

In her current work, Tsala uses loincloth fabric and

glues it and binds it to the acrylic paint. She also

creates pieces where collage is not present, using oil

paint or acrylic. Canvas or wood are her painting

surfaces. Kristine Tsala loves to experiment with

technique and colour. She is constantly renewing

textures and her chromatic "ecosystem". Her

influences are many: drawing inspiration from the

class displayed by Parisian Jean Gabriel Domergue or

the mannerisms of Modigliani's female figures or from

masks and African statuettes, flora and fauna.

Exhibitions

Kristine Tsala (Cameroon) – Ombre mouvante – 2015 – 60cm H x

80cm W – Acrylic on canvas

Kristine Tsala (Cameroon) – Photo de famille 1 – 2015 – 120cm H x

120cm W – Acrylic on canvas

2015 – « Street Attitude », Out of Africa, Sitges

Barcelona, Spain

2014 – Fondation Valette, Switzerland

2013 – Atelier « La fashion attitude », Institut de

formation artistique de Mbalmayo, Cameroon

2012 – Djeuga Palace, Yaoundé, Cameroon

2012 – « From village to town », Centre d’art

contemporain Doual’art , Collectif 3Kokorikos, Doula,

Cameroon

2010 – Atelier « Trans », Centre d’art contemporain

Doual’art, Douala, Cameroon

2010 – Exhibition, Collectif 3Kokorikos, Centre

Culturel Français François Villon, Yaoundé, Cameroon

2008 – 80m x 3m fresco, French Lycée Kinshasa, DR

Congo, Collectif 3Kokorikos & Belgian artist Arnauld

Debal

2008 – « Kinshasa vue d’ici et d’ailleurs », Multi

media installation, Collectif 3Kokorikos and Collectif

Kabola, Centre Wallonie Bruxelles, Kinshasa, DR

Congo

2008 – « Voyage in », Collectif 3Kokorikos, Centre

culturel français, Kinshasa, DR Congo

2008 – « Face au temps », Collectif 3Kokorikos, Centre

Carter, Kinshasa, DR Congo

2007 – « Regard », Collectif 3Kokorikos, Centre Carter,

Kinshasa, DR Congo

2006 – « Under African skies », Sankaranka Gallery,

Brooklyn, New York, USA

2004 – « Bayam salam amazone moderne »,

Residency & exhibition, Galerie Mis’art, Cameroon

2003 - « Let’us rebuild », Collectif Beez’art United

Artist, Palais des Congrès, Yaoundé, Cameroon

2002 – Jeune peinture camerounaise – Pinceaux en

couleur, Musée National, Cameroon

For more information kindly contact:

Sorella Acosta

Director, Out of Africa Gallery

sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com

+34 618 356 351