Malick Sidibé
Look at Me!

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Artist Malick Sidibé Malian, 1936–2016

CultureMalian

Titles

Look at Me!
Aristo-Club. Regardé-moi

Date1962, printed 1999

PlaceMali, Africa

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 16 3/4 × 17 in. (42.5 × 43.2 cm)
Sheet: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Nina and Michael Zilkha

Object number99.221

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionMalick Sidibé’s exuberant and joyful photographs of nightlife in Bamako, the capital of Mali, in the early 1960s captured the spirit of a country newly liberated from its colonial past. Moving from one party or nightclub to the next in the wee hours of the weekend, he photographed young men and women intoxicated by the power of music, throwing off the taboos that had kept their elders from dancing close to one another. Caught in the camera’s bright flash, the young man in this photograph is a jubilant embodiment of physical prowess and pleasure—just the sort of fellow, Sidibé recalled, who would gather with friends around the photographic proofs pinned outside the studio by midweek and point to himself saying “Look at me there! I danced with so-and-so! Can you see me there?”
Provenance[Deitch Projects, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1999.
Exhibition History"Clubs of Bamako," Deitch Projects, New York, February 11–March 6, 1999; Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, March 9–April 16, 2000.

"Contemporary Art and Photography: Spotlight on the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 30, 2001–February 3, 2002.

“History of Photography I: Selections from the Museum's Collection,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 1, 2014–February 22, 2015.

"Through an African Lens: Sub-Saharan Photography from the Museum's Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 27–November 8, 2020.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in black, recto, lower left below image: Aristo-Club. Regardé-moi 1963
Signed in black ink, recto, lower right below image: Malick Sidibé 1999
Inscribed in pencil, verso, lower edge: MS 3002-2 DP

Signed in black ink, recto, lower right below image: Malick Sidibé 1999

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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