The three Chéri of Congolese popular painting were born between 1955 and 1957, and all started their art careers at the beginning of the 1970s. They have continued working as artists until the present day. 2024 is both Chéri Chérin’s and Chéri Benga’s 50th career anniversary, an event that Angalia Gallery simply had to celebrate.

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. Essentially drawn from scenes from everyday life, the subjects are sometimes extended to other areas, notably international news or personal topics. This genre focuses on conveying a message rather than pure aesthetics, which explains the very frequent addition of text.

While the works of the three artists presented here, and of other representatives of popular painting, does have a shared style, the aesthetic is not uniform. Each artist has their own personality, style, palette and key themes.

As an artistic account covering no less than half a century of the country’s life, popular painting will leave a body of work of incomparable richness and great sociological value.