Celebrating 50 years of career! The gallery is preparing an exhibition bringing together the three Chéri of Congolese popular painting: Chéri Benga and Chéri Chérin, who started out in 1974, and Chéri Samba, the best-known Congolese painter.
The shared journey and characteristics of the creative output of these three elder statesmen tell the tale of the birth and the very essence of so-called “popular” painting, a pictorial movement that has pride of place in Congo’s art history.
This narrative realist painting, with strong roots in the urban environment, developed from the 1970s. Advertising painting, along with cartoons, provides the genre with some of its formal characteristics. While the works of the three artists presented here does have a shared style, the aesthetic is not uniform. Each artist has their own personality, style, palette and key themes.
The preview will take place on Thursday 2 May from 6pm to 9pm.