Quick Facts
Biography
Hassan Musa (born 1951 in Sudan) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Southern France. Musa is considered an important contemporary African artist.
Musa earned a master's degree from the College of Fine and Applied Art at the Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan, 1976 and a doctorate in Fine Art and Art History from the University of Montpellier, France, 1979.
Work
Musa's large works are usually executed in textile ink on printed textile, creatively blending the designs of the fabric with his own painting. In his art, which he claims should not be labelled as "African", Musa often appropriates classical Western masterpieces such as The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet or Olympia by Édouard Manet. Confronting and mixing these classical images with latter-day icons such as Vincent van Gogh, Josephine Baker, Che Guevara or Osama bin Laden, Musa creates a critical view on western art, politics and culture.
Hassan Musa is also a calligrapher, an engraver and has illustrated numerous books.
The artist is represented by the Pascal Polar gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
Exhibitions
Alongside gallery exhibitions, Musa's works have been shown at:
- 1977 FESTAC, Lagos, Nigeria
- 1985 Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
- 1993 Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- 1993 Musée bibliothèque Pierre André Benoit, Alès, France
- 1995 Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK
- 1996 Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden
- 1997 Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
- 1998 Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York
- 2003 Arab World Institute, Paris, France
- 2004 Museum for African Art, New York City, USA
- 2004 Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA
- 2004 Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany
- 2005 Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 2005 Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
- 2006 Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, USA
- 2006 Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
- 2006 The Hayward, London, UK
- 2007 Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
- 2008 Musée d'Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium
- 2008 Hood Museum of Art, New Hampshire, USA
- 2009 San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, USA
- 2011 Triennial of Contemporary Textile Arts of Tournai, Belgium
- 2011 Palace Museum of Ath, Belgium
- 2014 Gallery of African Art ,London ,UK
- 2014 Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main