The vast Kouakourou (1987–8), named after the city in Mali, measures fully three by five metres. The painting, which spans four joined panels, evokes an organic dark space that can be seen as a cave or a jungle. Against the dark background some dominant red shapes stand out in bold relief. In between them, purple, green, and blue shapes are scattered across the painting. Together they form a shifting terrain where spaces open and close, shapes tower up and flow down, or lead horizontally into other forms. The painting method varies from more solid fields to modelling with tighter brushstrokes that gives the impression of foliage. The colour fields are orchestrated into a pulsating dance.
Kristoffer Arvidsson from The Collection Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg 2014
