A Billion Brilliant Points of Unity
Curated by Maty Sall
June 21 – August 10, 2024
Fridman Gallery is honored to announce A Billion, Brilliant Points of Unity, a group exhibition curated by Maty Sall.
The belief that different cultures are not separate but rather inherently interconnected, sharing past and present influences, is generally known as polyculturalism. And, in as much as it is a belief, it is also an observation of perpetual flux that points us towards an obvious truth: human beings are engaged in an eternal process of cultural exchange. Our history is one of mutual influence, a constant migration and exchange of people, ideas, and objects. The current popular understanding of how cultures interact has morphed into a simplified notion of cultural exchange as a system of top-down oppression that frames non-Western people and their art as “source material.” This both denies non-Western people the dignity of being influential and casts the Western world into the role of “observer” while framing non-Westerners as, simply, the “observed.”
Moreover, it could not be further from the historical truth: a Hellenistic influence on Indian art and architecture is documented from the 4th century BC onwards. It was just as 17th century Chinese potters began to emulate Ottoman and Safavid ceramic designs that 17th century Europe developed a fascination with Chinoiserie. The distinct stylistic qualities of Byzantine art reveal centuries’ of influence from North and East Africa on the Eastern Mediterranean. And, famously, when seeking to reinvent the human figure Cubism looked straight towards African art.
Nearly a quarter of the way through the twenty-first century, this cross-pollination has only intensified. In all instances, the works featured in A Billion, Brilliant Points of Unity push back against a deterministic vision of human identity centered on division and against fatalistic notions of difference. As the contemporary world reorients itself around new forms of material production, new channels of trade, and increasingly rapid means of communication, for those who wish to break new ground, abundant sources of inspiration come from all directions.
As information travels faster and faster, polyculturalism hints at what the future holds—we are not moving towards a single, homogenous culture, but towards a billion, brilliant points of unity. We are accelerating towards immaculate multiplicity brimming with potential and, time and time again, it is artists who find themselves on the vanguard of this eternal cultural exchange.
A Billion, Brilliant Points of Unity features works by Hilary Balu, Kokou Ferdinand Makouvia, Laurena Finéus, Ambrose Rhapsody Murray, Terrence Musekiwa, Adjani Okpu-Egbe, Rakajoo, Sahana Ramakrishnan, Yelaine Rodriguez, David Smalling, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Malaika Temba, Maya Ines Touam and Saya Woolfalk.
[Text by Grace Nkem and Maty Sall.]
Sighting’s: Quand Les Murs Tombent, 2023, Oil and micah on canvas, 48 x 72 in.
Les Yeux Sont Inutiles Quand l’Esprit est Aveugle, 2024, Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 67 x 67 in
Flight of the Blackbird, 2024, Oil on canvas, 50 x 60 in.
Exhibition Programming
Thursday, June 20 • Private Reception • 6-9pm
Friday, June 21 • Opening reception • 6-8pm
Maty Sall is a French-Senegalese, Paris-born, New York City based art dealer and curator. Her early exposure to a confluence of aesthetic and cultural discourses have shaped the unique visual language and the curatorial sensibility that guides her practice. Her regular visits to museums, both at home and abroad, were foundational influences— in particular Ousmane Sow’s 1998 exhibition at the Pont des Arts and Marina Abramović’s 2010 MoMA retrospective.
She moved to New York City at 19 years old after a year of studying Fine Art and Art History at Sorbonne University. After completing the fast-track English language course at Hunter College, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a minor in Art History from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Upon graduating, Sall joined the Upper East Side’s Rosenfeld Gallery, where she rose to the role of Assistant Director.
There she specialized in the secondary market, working directly with private collectors and auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s, selling works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Alexander Calder, and many others. Eager to work directly with artists and dive into the primary market, in 2017 Sall went on to become the Director of Soho’s Paul Nicklen Gallery, where she worked with leading National Geographic photographers and conservationists.
The gallery’s focus on sustainability and environmentalism led her to collaborate with prestigious institutions such as the Explorer’s Club, the United Nations, the Audubon Society, and the World Wildlife Fund. In 2019, after a two-year tenure at Nicklen, Sall became the Director of Jason Jacques Gallery, where she honed her expertise and trailblazing vision working with leading designers and artists like Rick Owens, Beth Cavener, and Kim Simonsson. Always thinking outside the box, she led the team through four years of exhibitions and international art fairs including TEFAF Maastricht, FOG Design+Art, Design Miami/Basel, and Design Miami/, which featured her notable 2022 collaboration with Urban Umbrella: a large-scale scaffolding installation and monumental sculpture series by Kim Simonsson. Under her direction, the gallery moved from the Upper East Side to the heart of Chelsea in the Spring of 2022.
Her unique approach to expanding the contemporary program proved a wild success; she was the curatorial force behind SMOKE, the inaugural show at the new location— a group exhibition benefitting the Last Prisoner Project, that raised thousands of dollars for their cause. Informed by her international art market acumen, and with her astute sensitivity for beauty, Sall aims to affirm the global impact and significance of contemporary African art. Through her thought-provoking curatorial practice, she challenges the shallow and habitually negative discourse surrounding the Continent. By showcasing the multiplicity and depth of contemporary work from both established and emerging African artists, she shines a light on limitless cultural diversity and complexity. Her work demonstrates that the global art conversation is not complete without a chorus of voices from Africa. Formerly the director of the Lower East Side’s Fridman Gallery, where she nurtured the established roster of artists, brought in exciting talent, new perspective, and a fresh conceptual approach to the program. She has been instrumental in helping to reshape the gallery’s aesthetic identity. In the summer of 2024, she is curating ‘A Billion Brilliant Points of Unity,’ an international group exhibition centered on polyculturalism, which opens on June 20th.