Soly Cissé (Dakar, 1969) is widely regarded as one of the most influential and distinctive figures in contemporary Senegalese and African art. A painter, sculptor, draughtsman, photographer, and scenographer, he graduated in 1996 from the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Dakar as the top student of his class. From the outset of his career, he distinguished himself through an original and highly personal artistic vision, deliberately distancing his practice from imitation and conventional representations of reality.

His artistic language unfolds through a powerful visual universe inhabited by hybrid beings that exist between the human, the animal, and the mythical. Characterized by dynamic gestural energy and a compelling interplay of light and darkness, his works explore the tensions between tradition and modernity, spirituality and contemporary life, collective memory and social transformation. A formative influence on his imagination dates back to childhood, when he drew on radiographic films brought home by his father, a radiologist. This early experience fostered a lifelong fascination with transparency, materiality, and the revelation of hidden forms.

Cissé’s international career began in the late 1990s with participation in the São Paulo Biennial, followed by the Havana Biennial and several editions of Dak’Art, the Dakar Biennale. His international recognition was firmly established through his inclusion in the landmark exhibition Africa Remix, presented at major institutions such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Hayward Gallery in London, the Museum Kunst Palast in Düsseldorf, and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. The exhibition is widely regarded as one of the most significant surveys ever dedicated to contemporary African art

Over the course of his career, he has exhibited extensively in museums, foundations, biennials, and leading galleries throughout Europe, Africa, North America, and South America, including the Centre for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci in Prato, the Musée Dapper in Paris, the IFAN Museum in Dakar, Art Paris, the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, VOLTA New York, and numerous other international venues. His works are held in important public and private collections, and his artistic practice has been the subject of publications, catalogues, and scholarly studies.

Through a multidisciplinary body of work encompassing painting, sculpture, and experimental forms of artistic expression, Soly Cissé has developed a visual language that is immediately recognizable. His contribution has played a significant role in the international affirmation of contemporary African art, establishing him as one of Senegal’s foremost cultural ambassadors on the global stage.