Dominique Zinkpè is one of the preeminent contemporary African artists working today.

Encompassing mediums as diverse as drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, video and installation, Zinkpè's corpus is informed by the rich historical and cultural traditions of his native Benin, which the artist transfigures into breathtaking compositions addressing issues on race, religion, sexuality, spirituality, mythology, as well as the antagonizing forces at play in his own life.

Elaborate, symbolic and highly intimate, the paintings by Zinkpè possess a riveting surrealist quality. His abstracted multiverse often features sinuous and hybrid anthropomorphic female entities, powerful chimeras and mythical beasts engaged in romps of power, disguise and allure that hint at the irony and satire of the human comedy. 

Zinkpè's archetypal visual narrative draws inspiration from the unresolved tensions pervading Benin's colonial past and its journey to sovereignty. In his creative practice, the seminal artist continues to bring forth the conundrums subsisting between Catholicism and Animism.

The fertile colleen frequently appearing throughout Zinkpè's body of work seem entrenched in maniacal dances evoking the sacred Vaudou rituals, central in both Fon and Yorùbá cultural ideologies. Each confronts the viewer with notions of desire, birth, abortion and expectancy. 

All together a pioneer, an iconoclast and a visionary, Dominique Zinkpè unearths masterpieces that are anchored at the core of the 21st century cultural zeitgeist. His oeuvre is the stellar epitome of a contemporary African creation that alleviates borders and elevates our inherent humanity. 

Collected by a major institutions:

Zeitz MOCAA