Théo Ouaki

Theo Ouaki (born in 1989) lives and works in Marseille, France. He studied at the Marseille School of Fine Arts and his career has been enriched by...

residences in Benin, Italy, Mexico and Versailles.

His work has been exhibited in Brussels, Paris, Venice, Mexico City, Dallas, and Marseille. He approaches sculpture through ceramics as a self-taught artist, primarily guided by the desire to combine three-dimensional forms and colors. Intuitively, by manipulating the clay, shaping it, coloring it, and allowing himself to be surprised by what happens during firing, he has developed a spontaneous practice that deliberately dispenses with preparatory drawings or models, allowing forms and colors to emerge more readily.

He works with the idea of a universal culture with eclectic references. This visual language aims to be simple, but it is made up of a multitude of memories and references that are much more complex: from outsider art to surrealism, from COBRA to free figuration, from Hayao Miyazaki's animated films to American comics, from graffiti to Emojis.

The textured effects (tool and finger marks), the pentimenti, the often strident colors, all contribute to a broader reflection on the era and how an artist engages with it. From one sculpture to the next, Théo Ouaki maps an imaginary and poetic universe that draws on both a personal approach and a desire to speak to a wider audience.