Internationally acclaimed visual artist Gérard Quenum, is considered one of the founding fathers of West African abstract figuration. A movement of which he has been at the forefront for past two decades.

Quenum, whose practice is based in Porto-Novo, Benin, West Africa, is a modest and quiet gentleman. Yet, work by the seminal artist frequently hauls front stage at major exhibitions in Paris, London and New York. Today, Quenum’s oeuvre has  been permanently incorporated into the preeminent collections of leading art institutions, the likes of British Museum and Tate Modern in the UK, or Stanford University in the US, to name but a few.

All together mesmerizing and disconcerting, the minimalistic yet highly energetic canvases by Gérard Quenum, interrogate us on notions of humanism, societal conundrums, death, grief and the afterlife. Often featuring chromatically pared down figures, evolving within ethereal vacuities, permeated by primary colors, Quenum's paintings, further extrapolate myriads of potential scenarios that unfold inside the viewer’s own mind. 

In his oeuvre, the artist attempts to symbolize the reincarnation of life, through the whimsical tales of his native land, and its deep seated, rich historical traditions, by way of which Quenum masterfully peers into the future. 

A true iconoclast, an intellectual, a luminary, a free thinker, a social activist and an all around humanitarian, Gérard Quenum presents us, in his creative practice, with  a compelling message of hope, peace and resilience against the overbearing reign of imperialism, totalitarianism, colonialism, racism, and other abusive forms of power, like police brutality and military oppressions, still plaguing the history of Mankind, even more so in our current day and age.