Thierry Oussou presents Before It Is Completely Gone, his first solo exhibition at Stevenson gallery in Braamfontein. The Benin-born artist’s works are created on multiple layers of paper with ink, acrylic and oil bar. For Before It Is Completely Gone Oussou has created three-dimensional installations made from found materials gathered across Johannesburg, turning urban debris into a means to observe broader cultural norms.

Oussou considers himself to be a “social archaeologist” and describes his motivation as “a desire to document the vanishing before it is completely gone, to keep the trace of the tradition, the imprint of the past in the future”. Tackling contemporary debates such as decolonisation, cultural preservation and ethical consumption, Before It Is Completely Gone reorganises the present with a view of changing the future.

Exhibition opening event Sat Feb 10 at 10:00.