For Assoukrou Ake, when he visited Beijing for the first time, it was the city's nights that proved most compelling. To him, Beijing after dark holds a particular density -not simply darkness, but a space shaped by light, shadow and silence, where stories seem to hover just beneath the surface.
"In the streets of Beijing, the night becomes a living archive, a constellation of suspended signs. I walk with wide-open eyes, searching in the darkness for the fragile light that still holds the world together," he says.
This perspective anchors What Shines Behind the Night, Ake's solo exhibition, which opened on Dec 13 at Yishu 8, an art platform housed in the former Sino-French University. The exhibition presents 26 works created during his residency in the capital and runs through Jan 11.
Ake is one of the recipients of the 2024 Yishu 8 French Young Artists Award. He arrived in Beijing in October, experiencing the transition from autumn to winter — an atmospheric period that deeply informed his work.
Born in 1995 in Bonoua, Cote d'Ivoire, Ake now lives and works in Paris. His first encounter with Beijing was defined by scale. "I knew Beijing was large, but I hadn't expected such an extraordinary population density," he says. "Moving through the city, I realized it could almost contain the entire population of Cote d'Ivoire. Yet beneath this monumental scale, I also sensed an unexpected intimacy."
That sense of familiarity led him to rethink a saying from home. "In Cote d'Ivoire, we often say: when it rains in Paris, Abidjan gets wet too," Ake notes. "Now I want to change that saying to: when it rains in Beijing, Abidjan gets wet too. Certain atmospheres here often remind me of Abidjan, as if the two cities are conversing across distance."
To him, the difference between cities is also a difference in time."Daily life in Paris is more orderly and pragmatic, while Beijing seems to stretch the dimension of time itself," he says. "This city demands your full engagement, but in return, it offers a deep inner richness."
Living in a hutong alley in Dongcheng district's Dongsi area, Ake immersed himself in the city's daily rhythms. "I like going out early in the morning, when the light filtering through the treetops is at its gentlest," he says. "In the evening, neon lights, food aromas and the sound of people talking create a warm and vibrant street life."
These observations materialize in works that combine acrylic painting with carved wooden panels, merging woodcutting and painting."Woodcutting and painting allow me to work on two levels: concealment and revelation," Ake explains. "Scraping the surface reveals buried textures, like memories being awakened, while painting brings light and presence."
Among the exhibition's highlights is The Butterfly Lovers series, where Ake interprets the Chinese legend through the structure of a Western altarpiece. "Altarpieces fascinate me for their vertical structure, sacred theatricality, and use of light," he says. "Chinese legends weave together fantasy, ethics, transformation, and fate. Bringing these together creates a space where two traditions can have a dialogue."
Beijing's night takes on a dreamlike form in Golden Flower Nebula."Night is not the absence of day," Ake says. "It is a different way of seeing… a story that doesn't need words to tell itself all at once."
Beyond visual art, Ake immersed himself in traditional culture, including attending a Peking Opera performance. "Every gesture seems to carry ancient memories; every movement has calligraphic precision," he says.
Christine Cayol, founder of Yishu 8, describes Ake's work as fundamentally interdisciplinary. "What he draws from traditional Chinese stories is not specific subject matter," she says, "but the resonance between time and culture — between present and past, East and West."
For Ake, the residency marked a lasting shift. "This stay broadened my perspective and shifted my sensibilities," he says. "It is an experience that will continue to nourish my work in the years to come."
