LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery is pleased to start this new year with the first solo exhibition of Beninese artist Dominique Zinkpè in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. This first exhibition from 25 February to 24 April, 2021 presents a range of recent versions of canvas, drawings and sculptures by Zinkpè.

 

Dominique Zinkpè is a contemporary Beninese multidisciplinary visual artist who creates paintings, sculptures and installations. Self-taught, he developed a pronounced taste for creation at a very young age. As an teenager and on his own initiative he engaged in discovering artistic techniques in manuals borrowed from the French cultural center’s library in Cotonou. 

 

Zinkpè then decided to train as a dressmaker on his parent’s advice, at a time when art schools did not yet exist in Benin. During his studies, he developed a personal body of artwork, with his future creative autonomy in mind.  

 

He quickly began his artistic career by taking part in numerous workshops and residencies in Africa and Europe. He made a name for himself with the Young African Talent Prize that he received at Grapholies in Abidjan, in 1993, and acquired a certain notoriety at the beginning of the 2000s, particularly thanks to his series on “Taxis Brousse“. His work was consecrated in 2002 at the Dakar Biennale, where he was awarded the UEOMA Prize. 

 

At the crossroads of inherited tradition and the contemporary world, Zinkpè draws his inspiration from the ancestral culture of his country and the daily African environment, highlighting the contradictions of the contemporary world. Animist culture and voodoo ceremonies are recurring themes in his work, as are intimacy, sex, the sacred and the profane.

 

In his work, the artist uses a wide variety of materials and mediums such as Burlap, discarded cars or even hôhô figurines, traditionally used for twin ceremonies in southern Benin.