Exhibition of week: Ibrahim el-Salahi: a Visionary Modernist

Tate Modern, London SE1

Adrian Hamilton
Friday 19 July 2013 16:35 BST
Comments
Featured works include the Self-Portrait of Suffering
Featured works include the Self-Portrait of Suffering (Ibrahim El-Salahi)

Ibrahim el-Salahi is a veteran of the postwar renaissance in African art and its troubled politics. A minister one moment, imprisoned the next, his painting is a fascinating, moving search for forms that express his yearnings and the anguish of his prison experience.

The early works see him trying out the modern art learnt from the Western masters, but what makes him interesting is the tension between an intellect that seeks purity of expression and an imagination which wants to free itself from constraint. Featured works include the Self-Portrait of Suffering (1961).

020 7887 8888; tate.org.uk, to 22 September

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in