Art Madrid'24 – Médéric Turay

Médéric Turay

Abiyán, (Costa de Marfil), 1979

An archetypal Afropolitan and "bon vivant", Turay’s imposing abstract expressionist paintings belie narratives referenced by his international upbringing and experiences between Morocco, Ivory Coast and the United States, and represent his effort to distil the essence of the contemporary human experience in our transnational, post-colonial, global society. Turay’s practice transcends racial, geographic and socio-political notions, whilst still rooted in his identity and heritage through the utility of cultural motifs, chiefly ancestral masks and spiritual symbols. Turay’s multi-media surfaces pulsate with eclectic, raw energy. His new body of work is more abstract and introspective, assembling coarse coffee grinds, sumptuous oil and acrylic brushstrokes, and locally sourced pigments to create a multisensory, cacophonous experience of depth. His images are so cosmic in scope that they require viewers to suspend their imagination to explore their nuanced juxtaposition of many contrasting energies. The temptation to decode Turay’s complex and voluminous sampling of inherited traditions and new forms leads to a meditative plunge into his polyphonic story of existence.