Malick Sidibé: Regardez-moi

Jack Shainman Gallery is thrilled to announce Regardez-moi, an exhibition of photographs by the Malian photographer Malick Sidibé. The exhibition, the title of which translates to Look at Me, marks the gallery's latest celebration of Sidibé’s unparalleled ability to capture the heartbeat of Bamako, Mali following the country’s liberation from colonial rule in 1960.

Featuring a vibrant selection of photographs — some of which have never before been exhibited — this presentation invites viewers into the bustling parties, joyous gatherings, and tender moments that defined the transformative era of a young nation relishing to establish its own national identity. In today’s cultural climate, where visibility and representation hold immense weight, Sidibé’s work and legacy remain as significant as ever.


Presented in conjunction with this exhibition is the publication of Painted Frames, a monograph by Loose Joints, and the first exploration of Sidibé’s synergistic painted frame photographs. In these works, Sidibe collaborated with local Malian artists to blend his iconic photography with the traditional West African art of reverse-glass painting. Regardez-moi presents a selection of these painted frames; reaffirming the sanctity of African photography as a medium of memory and identity. The publication also features an essay by writer, independent researcher, and collector-archivist Amy Sall, in which she makes a case for the continued and ever-expanding importance of Sidibé’s oeuvre:

“Malick Sidibé was witness to, and preserver of, a nascent, burgeoning postcolonial society in which a new modernity was being constructed by way of transcultural osmosis. From his studio to the soirées, and even to the banks of the Niger River, Sidibé and his camera were at the center of it all. He was not only chronicling Malian history and culture, but making pivotal contributions to it…. The night clubs, living rooms, and courtyards he photographed were spaces of freedom and community. Sidibé’s oeuvre reflects dialectic expressions of being because he captured his subjects as their imagined and authentic selves. From his widely recognized Nuit de Noël (Christmas Eve, Happy Club) (1963) to his series Vues de dos, the framed images carry the same undercurrents of power and rebellion, tenderness and joy that flow throughout Sidibé’s entire archive.”

Regardez-moi underscores Sidibé’s role as a pioneer who sculpted the visual identity of the African diaspora, offering a window into a Malian nation that boldly joined a global youth movement. His photographs transcend their historical context, speaking to contemporary dialogues about identity, agency, and the power of being seen. Sidibé's photographs don’t just freeze time, they transform these scenes into vibrant stages where his subjects — young couples excited to be married, or older men or women reclaiming their freedom of expression — assert their presence and identity. In Dansez le Twist (1963-2010), Sidibé captures a young man and a woman in a state of joy while dancing the twist, an American rock ‘n’ roll dance that became a global cultural phenomenon from 1959 to the early 1960s, which was known for its simple yet lively steps that encouraged freedom of movement and expression. By providing his subjects with ways to be seen and celebrated, Sidibé’s lens offers a powerful counterpoint to our tech-filtered world, reminding viewers of the raw, unscripted joy of human connection. One of Sidibé most celebrated series, Vues de Dos — with examples from the series held in the collections of numerous museums such as the Getty Museum, The National Gallery of Art, as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art — provides viewers with a deeper understanding of the photographer’s curatorial eye, depicting women in his studio with their bare backs to the camera against a signature backdrop of striped walls. Sidibé’s photography serves as both a reflector and a loudspeaker, magnifying the vibrant, intimate essence of Bamako’s people in the wake of gaining independence from French colonial rule. The works capture a liberated people that resonates with a contemporary urgency now more than ever.



About Malick Sidibé
Malick Sidibé (b. 1935, Soloba, Mali; d. 2016, Bamako, Mali) was a photographer known for his black and white images chronicling the exuberant lives and culture—often of youth—in his native Bamako, Mali. Much of Sidibé’s work documented a transitional moment as Mali gained its independence, transforming from a French colony steeped in tradition to an independent country looking toward the West, and Sidibé played a pivotal role in sculpting the fresh, global appearance of the African diaspora.

This political expression often took shape through individual and collective presentation, such as fashion, music, and dance – something made palpable by Sidibé’s rhythmic compositions. Often capturing his subjects in the midst of ceremonial action or in joyous moments of nightlife, Sidibé built the narrative of a specific time and space that empowered a culture to dictate their own stories. There is a distinct sense of chronicle felt in the movement of Sidibé’s subjects, who boldly occupy both the photograph’s frame and their recently decolonized nation’s public and leisure spaces. Beyond his candid shots, Sidibé ran a formal portrait studio with a deliberately dramatic décor as a backdrop. In order to capture his sitters’ characters and lives, he orchestrated them into relaxed positions encouraging them to bring along beloved personal objects, like a new motorcycle or a James Brown record. It was through his portraiture that Sidibé documented the changing fashions and aspirations of generations in Bamako.



About Jack Shainman Gallery
Jack Shainman Gallery has been dedicated from its inception to championing artists who have achieved mastery of their creative disciplines and are among the most compelling and influential contributors to culture today. For nearly four decades, the Gallery has earned a reputation for introducing international artists to American audiences and for developing young and mid-career artists who have gone on to gain worldwide acclaim. The gallery has presented the first New York exhibitions of artists Nick Cave, Hayv Kahraman, Kerry James Marshall, Meleko Mokgosi, Richard Mosse, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Hank Willis Thomas and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, among many others. Today, Jack Shainman Gallery is celebrated for its multicultural roster of emerging and established artists and estates who engage in the social and cultural issues of their time.

The Gallery was founded in 1984 in Washington, D.C. by Jack Shainman and Claude Simard (1956- 2014). Soon after opening, the Gallery relocated to New York City, first in the East Village before moving to Soho and finally, in 1997, to its current location at 513 West 20th Street in Chelsea. In 2013, the Gallery opened two additional exhibition spaces, one in Chelsea at 524 West 24th Street, which operated until 2022, and a second in a converted 30,000 square foot building in Kinderhook, NY known as The School, which continues today. The gallery's newest flagship location in Tribeca at 46 Lafayette Street opened in January 2025.