DOMINIQUE ZINKPÈ

"I am not sure that there is an African soul. I rather tell stories of humanity". Dominique Zinkpè

DOMINIQUE ZINKPÈ

Born in 1969 in Cotonou, Dominique Zinkpè is self-taught. Although he graduated from a sewing school, it is painting – the basics of which he learned from books – that he devotes his free time. In 1993, he won the prize of the Young African Talent at the Grapholies Biennial in Abidjan, which confirmed his desire to devote himself to the plastic arts. Far from confining himself to a single form of expression, the artist explores various mediums such as drawing, painting, video, sculpture, or installation. His installation “Despite Everything” won him the prestigious UEMOA prize at the Dakar Biennale in 2002. Oscillating between satire and political denunciation, his protean work addresses themes relating to identity, the sacred, animality, relationships of domination, rituals … outlining, in filigree, the condition of a modern African man struggling with a world adrift. Exposed internationally, Dominique Zinkpè remains very involved in the artistic development of his country: in 2012 he created Unik, a residency for young Beninese artists, and in 2015, he took over the direction of the Arts and Culture Center of Lobozunkpa in Cotonou.

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