Gérard Quenum

Quenum was born in the coastal town of Porto Novo, the official capital of the Republic of Benin, in 1971. He is part of the latest generation of sophisticated young francophone artists now breaking out of Africa and demanding wider recognition for their art on the international stage. Benin has long been blessed with a wealth of outstanding contemporary artists, with Cyprien Tokoudagba and Georges Adeagbo coming early to the attention of western collectors in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Hot on their heels came ever more celebrated artists such as Romuald Hazoumè, Dominique Kouas, the Dakpogan brothers et al. More recently, a rising generation of “street artists” has been developing around Porto Novo and Cotonou, This tightly-knit group, marshalled by the eccentric creativity of Dominique Zinkpé, arranged spontaneous exhibitions of their work not in the fine art galleries (of which Benin boasts precious few!) but outside on the city streets. They called this succession of guerrilla exhibitions - “Boulev’art” (Art on the Boulevard). Gerard Quenum stands out amongst these younger tyros, as the original creator of a distinct sculptural style, and, with growing maturity, his work is now to be found in galleries on the grand Boulevards of Paris as well as the finer streets of London.