by Anna Sansom, journalist.
The Cameroonian art scene is growing exponentially. Cameroon participated for the first time in the Venice Art Biennale in 2022 with its own pavilion spread over two venues. Works by four Cameroonian artists (multimedia artist Francis Nathan Abiamba, photographer Angéle Etoundi Essamba, sculptor and video artist Justine Gaga and painter Salifou Lindou) were shown alongside four international artists in the Liceo Artistico Statale Michelangelo Guggenheim. Meanwhile, NFTs by 20 international artists were presented in Palazzo Ca’ Bernardo.
What’s also drawing attention from Cameroon is figurative painting by an upcoming generation. Demand for these artists is aligned with the appetite for Black figurative painting from elsewhere in the African continent and the diaspora.
Helping to pave the way for this younger generation are the trailblazing artists Pascale Marthine Tayou and Barthélémy Toguo whose names are synonymous with their Cameroonian origins. Tayou, who is based in Ghent, is known for his rich multi-media practice that draws on and reinterprets his African heritage. Meanwhile, Toguo, who divides his time between Paris and Douala in Cameroon, reflects on geopolitical subjects from the scarcity of water in Africa to migration, persecution and civil rights.
Since emerging onto the art scene several decades ago, they have both exhibited widely and their multi-media artworks have been acquired by prestigious collections. Bandjoun Station, founded by Toguo on western Cameroon’s highlands near the town of Bafoussam, has also played a pivotal role in furthering Cameroon’s art scene. It offers an educational platform for children aged three to eighteen, artists’ residences and an exhibition space as well as having a coffee plantation.
Several other initiatives are steering the Cameroonian art scene and nurturing local talent. Since opening in 1991, the Centre d’art contemporain de Douala has been hosting exhibitions on African artists, furthering education and running training schemes. Galerie MAM, founded in Bonanjo in the 1990s, has also played a critical role in developing the careers of African artists, including Toguo and Cameroonian photographer Samuel Fosso. It also runs an artists’ residency programme.
There are also at least two higher education art schools: the Fine Arts Institute of Douala University (Institut des Beaux-Arts de l’Université de Douala) and La libre académie des beaux-arts de Douala (LABA Doula). The latter opened its doors in June 2020 with support from an Italian non-governmental organization, an Italian art academy in Brescia and the archdiocese of Doula.
All these developments are supporting Cameroonian artists. “We’re seeing a new generation of exciting artists and along with the [Democratic Republic of] Congo, Cameroon is probably the most dynamic market in central Africa,” Adriana La Lime, a specialist in Modern and contemporary African Art at Sotheby’s in London, says. “There’s an incredible amount of creativity and you can get incredible quality work for relatively affordable prices. These artists are appealing to a younger generation of collectors both in Africa and globally who are looking to expand their collection beyond European and American artists.”
However, La Lime points out: “Obviously we need more patrons, more spaces and more infrastructure but every sign is pointing to Cameroon growing as an incredible ecosystem for contemporary art and hopefully becoming one of the stronger markets on the continent.”
Among the practitioners is Marc Padeu who revisits Christianity by integrating black figuration as well as depicting scenes of contemporary life in vibrant compelling works. Born in 1990, he makes tableaux interfacing evocations ranging from the Pietà to the Last Supper, the baptism of Christ, Renaissance art as well as the crowning of African kings. Repetitions of graphic shapes loosely reminiscent of kinetic art also feature in his brightly coloured canvases. His auction record is ‘Voici l’homme !’ (2019), of two red-haired men betraying a Christ-like figure with bound hands in a scene recalling the betrayal of Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. The painting soared by its estimate of €5,000-€8,000 to a staggering €195,000 at Piasa in November 2019.
Ludovic Nkoth is another upcoming artist who has quickly built a reputation for striking portraits characterized by a sizzling approach to colour and thick brushstrokes. Born in Yaoundé in 1994, Nkoth moved to the US at the age of 13. Since attaining a MFA in painting from Hunter College, he has had solo shows at Massimo De Carlo in London and François Ghebaly in Los Angeles.
In the space of a few years, the market for Nkoth’s arresting portraits has grown fast. ‘Beauty’ (2019), of a serene woman wearing a white-trimmed black hat, went under the hammer at Phillips New York in May 2022 for $75,600.
„My work attempts to regain the things that were taken away from my people. Things such as power, culture, the idea of self, and the idea of being black and proud,” Nkoth said. “Painting family members allows me to document our roots and our journey for the next generation.”
Meanwhile, Jourdan Tchoffo Kuete, 30, makes elegant paintings tinged with nostalgia. Often depicting families and interiors, his works are inspired by photography by Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé and James Barnor, colonial architecture and the late twentieth-century ‘Americana’ aesthetic. Since graduating from the Institut des Beaux-Arts de Foumban in Cameroon in 2019, Kuete has exhibited at the In and Off Center in Douala and at Blaackbox in Brussels.
‘Dejeuner en vacances’ (2021), in a palette of gold, white, black and red, of a couple and their daughter eating Cornflakes in a room overlooking a beach, exemplifies Kuete’s stylised, cinematic approach. The painting sold for €22,100 ($25,045) at Artcurial in Paris in November 2021, soaring past the €3,000-€5,000 estimate.
Self-taught artist Sesse Elangwe, 31, also makes captivating, large-scale portraits. Born in Cameroon, where he studied political science, and now based in Texas, Elangwe draws inspiration from pop art and realism to create bold works around identity. The most distinguishable characteristic of his paintings is the asymmetrically larger eye of his subjects. For instance, the young, smartly dressed man sitting on a park bench in the painting ‘A Man Alone’ (2021) stares frontally at the viewer, as if to probe their perception or level of awareness. It flew past the £3,000-£5,000 at Sotheby’s London last year to reach £22,680.
By contrast, Boris Nzebo, 53, blends aesthetics of African patterned fabrics into vivid works combining abstraction and figuration whilst reflecting on war and identity. For instance, ‘Enfants Soldats 01’ (2017) conflates joyful colours and a large smiling face with a group of children rendered in dots, stripes and geometric shapes. It fetched €22,100 ($27,361) at Piasa in April 2018 against an estimate of €17,000-€22,000.
Meanwhile, Jean David Nkot, born in 1989, portrays the human condition in paintings about child hunger, construction and migrant workers. What characterises them is how they are set against an intricate backdrop of maps and borders. One such portrait of a young man in blue shorts and a red T-shirt leaning upon a sack, his arms crossed, titled ‘Po.box transporteur / cassiteri.org’ (2020), went under the hammer for 169,000 MAD ($18,980) at Artcurial in Marrakech in December 2020.
Another name to watch is Bernard Ajarb, known for his exuberant canvases of communities and bustling cities rendered in dynamic waves of saturated colour. What’s noteworthy is how he brings together reference points such as post-indepence African black and white studio photography and influences from social media platforms. His auction record is ‘Tell me story Mami’ (2019), depicting a group of figures and parasols, which fetched 110,500 MAD ($12,528) at Artcurial in Marrakech in May 2021.
Although many of the artists generating interest are male, several women artists are making their mark too. For instance, the young artist Alida Ymele reflects upon the hardship and plight of domestic women in powerful portraits set against checked backgrounds reminscent of African fabrics. And Yougang Lauriane makes ceramics and paintings drawing on her local culture.
