The Spirit ("Le genie")
Yacouba Kone

Contemporary African artists are quick to make use of the materials at hand in the environment in which they find themselves to make their art. African artists have specialized for centuries in creating images of spirits. Because these spiritual beings are invisible, unknowable, intangible, they must be made visible if we are to ask them for our blessings. Because the idea of spiritual beings is abstract, it is most appropriate that African artists, both traditional and contemporary, represent the spirits through abstract images.