Gérard Quenum: Traces
by Ladun Ogidan
From May 5 to June 11, 2015, Art Twenty One will present a solo exhibition of Porto-Novo-based artist Gerard Quenum, featuring paintings, drawing, and sculpture.
Quenum is a self-taught artist who is part of an emerging generation of artists in Benin known as Boulev’art. He is well known for incorporating recycled materials such as toy dolls and scraps of wood, employed as references for ambiguous spiritual and ritual associations.
Quenum’s recent works on canvas explore sketching practices. His paintings depict crudely drawn figures that protrude on a blank picture plane and float as ghostly and unidentifiable presences.
Recent solo exhibitions include Gérard Quenum: Rupture at the Fondation Zinsou (Cotonou), Dolls Never Die at the October Gallery (London), and The Dragon between Two Worlds at the Museu Afro-Brasil (São Paulo). Quenum has completed artist residencies at the Ateliers d’Allonnes (France), the Kereva Museum of Art (Finland), and the Museo Afro-Brasil (Brazil). His work is included in the collections of the British Museum, the Pigozzi Collection, the National Museum of Scotland, the Government of Benin, Galeria Bernardo Marques, the Cantor Arts Center, the Fondation Zinsou, and the Africa Museum.
Ladun Ogidan
Ladun Ogidan is the Deputy Editor of Omenka magazine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from Covenant University, Nigeria. Ogidan is also Assistant Curator at the Omenka Gallery, and Chief Operating Officer at Revilo Company Limited, a leading art publishing company in Lagos. She has co-ordinated several exhibitions at home and abroad.
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