Fodé Camara, a painter from Senegal, is the subject of this study which examines his technique and method (“attack and struggle”) and his thematic repertoire. In his engagement with oils on canvas, he sometimes uses his hands directly on the surface. Death and mortification of the body are themes in Camara’s work, a preoccupation arising from the death of his father, a victim of Guinea’s notorious Camp Boiro.

Camara’s works in series. His early (1981-1982) series on the observations on the body relate specifically to the trauma of the death of his father and his own obsession with mortality. The series “Envelopes” (1982-1983) centers on the humble postage stamp and envelope. Later series deal with mass culture, and urban public transportation. His most recent series of paintings (at the time this thesis was written) is the French Revolution in the tropics (1988-1989). By now Camara had clearly established his distinctive painting style.