Gallery ILÉ Proudly Represents | OSWALD MATRO

Gallery ILÉ is proud to announce its representation of

mixed media artist, Oswald Matro.

Oswald Matro (Abomey, 2022) moves to Cotonou in In 2016, with the clear aim to bring his creative calling to life. Soon the young autodidact's idiosyncratic visual narrative and versatility as a painter and sculptor catches the attention of one of the most celebrated contemporary African artists today, Dominique Zinkpe, aka The Baobab.

In 2017, under the nurturing mentorship of this true African giant, Matro embarks on a Masterclass that will last 7 years, during which the Wunderkind will investigate the fundamental building blocks of modern art, including form, abstraction, scale, composition and above all, storytelling.

In April 2025, concluding this intensely immersive period, Oswald Matro graduated with a master's degree granting him the official status of visual artist.

Matro has taken part in group exhibitions including: Les Gardiens de l'Invisible, Ouidah (2025), N.art.urel, Sacred Forest of Pahou (2024), Emblèmes, Lieu Unik, Abomey (2022) and Boulev'Art, Cotonou (2021).

Oswald Matro is currently poised to take part in a series of workshops and art residencies in both West and North Africa.

The collection unveils 7 exceptional works in fine art painting.

For Oswald Matro, the act of painting is a dream log of sorts through which the artist

deciphers his own reflections on contemporary West African societies. A tale weaved by the threads of history, traditions and the identity Inherent to his native Benin.

Oddly abstract, yet figurative, the canvases by Oswald Matro are in fact gateways to uncharted plains of creative expression, within which the artist's visions materialise through myriads of effulgences, so vivid, textured and captivating, they almost instantly provoke an intoxicating sensory overload inside the viewer's mind.

Referencing traditional iconographic painting, Matro's compositions balance colour and perspective with great fluidity, by a way of a technique that challenges our expectations regarding the medium. Elevating the act of creation to a holistic paradigm, each canvas becomes stage to a whirling display of visual effects, heightened by a brilliant use of both synthetic and organic components.

Acrylic, oil pastel, spray paint, siphoned sand and plaster, are layered in, using a brush, a palette knife or simply fingers, before being scraped off, to emphasise the hidden meaning of the work and reinforce the painting's interaction within a three-dimensional space.