The DePaul Art Museum will feature portraits by the internationally celebrated photographer Malick Sidibé, who has documented life in Bamako, Mali, for half a century, as part of “Studio Malick,” an exhibition that opens March 29. Free and open to the public, the exhibition runs through June 3.

At the same time, “Andy Warhol: Photographs,” an exhibition featuring 25 original Polaroid photographs and gelatin silver prints, will also be on display. Images of the famous and not-so-famous show Warhol’s fascination with celebrity and his practice of making photos that served as sketches for more finished works of art. The works are part of a gift to the DePaul Art Museum from the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program.

An opening reception for the exhibitions will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. March 29 at the museum, located at 935 W. Fullerton Ave., just east of the CTA’s Fullerton “L” stop.

Studio Malick features lively black-and-white photographs by Sidibé, a Malian photographer noted for his carefully posed portraits and images of the exuberant nightlife in Bamako in the 1960s. Sidibé’s photos capture a unique moment in a time of political transition and cultural liberation as a youth culture of music, dancing and fashion exploded in the once-conservative West African nation of Mali as it gained independence from France.

“Sidibé’s photos are simultaneously intimate and evocative of an extraordinary time and place,” said Louise Lincoln, director of the DePaul Art Museum. “His use of props and the way he posed his subjects present them as they wished to be seen, and at the same time his perception of character makes each image distinctive.”

In recent years, Sidibé has been celebrated internationally for the strength and insight of his photographs, and his work has moved from being family keepsakes in middle-class Bamako homes to adorning the walls of museums throughout the world.

With a diversity of photographic objects—original proofs and recent enlargements of studio portraits, along with the vintage prints displayed in hand-painted frames—this exhibition explores both the art and commerce of Studio Malick.

The Studio Malick and Andy Warhol exhibits are the second offerings at the DePaul Art Museum’s new $7.8 million home, which opened in September 2011. The museum is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, please call (773) 325-7506 or visit http://museums.depaul.edu.