Iriée Zamblé
Iriée Zamblé explores the norms surrounding portraits by means of drawing and painting. She finds inspiration in everyday life and Afro-Atlantic culture. The artist describes her process as a way of capturing Coolness. Originating in West Africa, Coolness, was developed further by African diasporic cultures: it is expressed in fashion, language or attitude; it is a means of agency, to own control over one’s own body, spirit and story, stemming from a lack thereof. Coolness is about claiming your space unapologetically. In Zamblé’s paintings, black people are the protagonists, and they occupy their space with pride. She creates powerful works that overturn perspective on normativity, also within autonomous art.
Background
Iriée Zamblé (1995) is a visual artist currently based in The Netherlands. Zamblé graduated with honours from HKU Utrecht in 2019, and was artist-in-residence at Roodkapje Rotterdam in 2020/21. In 2019 she won the Sprouts Young Talents Award, and in 2020 she was nominated for the Royal Prize of Modern Painting and the Buning Brongers prize. Her work is part of multiple collections such as Museum Rembrandthuis and the Ministry of Foreign affairs. Zamblé’s work has been shown in numerous museums and galleries, such as Moving Gallery, Utrecht, Museum Rembrandthuis, Expoplu Nijmegen, and SBK Amsterdam.
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Iriée Zamblé – Untitled (2020)
Editions by Iriée
Iriée Zamblé – Eyes low (2020)
Iriée Zamblé – the souls of black folk (2020)
Iriée Zamblé – Made u look (2020)
Iriée Zamblé – Holdin’ it down (2020)
Iriée Zamblé – If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (heartbreaker’s anthem) (2019)
Iriée Zamblé – She who walks like a lion (2021)
Iriée Zamblé – Red flagging (2021)