Nathanaël Vodouhè
The creative practice of Nathanaël Vodouhè (1986, Cotonou, Benin), provides a catharsis to the tragedy of human alienation.
Vodouhè commands a narrative of incomparable poetry, yet it is one that bares apparent some of the moral deviances plaguing the history of mankind. In his compelling sculptural works, the trailblazing visual artist, brings into play polarising emotions such as kindness & cruelty, or dogmatic stances on good vs evil, light vs darkness or intemporality vs finality.
Seemingly interacting in harmony, upon closer look, these emphatic dichotomies denounce in fact, the sins of a modern society trapped in a race against itself, evermore concerned with mass production, the accumulation of material possessions and generating profits, at any cost, even if it means consuming our inherent humanity from the inside out.
As if rising from the magmatic pools of alien volcanos, these totemic entities are the reincarnations of scorched souls. Enthralled in parts, baring ashen cracks and adorned with imperial cloaks of shimmering pigmentations, each ethereal sculpture is hinting at the fuming wounds inflicted by the harshness of a modern world that too often undermines the symbiotic beauty of human interrelations and instead chooses to destroy its environment.
Vodouhè’s modern masterpieces further confront viewers with notions of addiction, endoctrinal mechanisms, mass consumerism and the hypertensions resulting from the exploitation of man upon his own kind.
Encompassing the mediums of painting, sculpture, installation and performance, Voudouhè's body of work is imbued with the history, tradition and spiritual ordinance of his native Benin.
Works by Nathanaël Vodouhè has been showcased in high profiled exhibitions including “Génération Intense” at Lieu-UniK in Abomey and Maison Rouge in Cotonou, Benin, in 2013, “Réciprocité ̈ at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art, in Dijon, France, in 2015, “Maison Rouge”, in Cotonou, Benin, “Empreintes”, in La Rochelle, France, Fondation CDG, in Rabbat, Morocco, in 2018, Ce Qui Plaît À l’Âme, at Carrousel de Louvre, in Paris, France, in 2020, “Le Bénin en Majesté” in Nice, France and “Art du Bénin- d’Hier et d’Aujourd’hui”, at Palais Présidentiel de la Marina, in Cotonou, Benin, in 2022, Up On Silvery Hill, at Gallery ILÉ, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 2023. In 2025, Nathanël Vodouhè was chosen to join the prestigious Art Club of The European Medicines Agency in Amsterdam.
Works by Nathanaël Vodouhè are part of esteemed private collections in France, Belgium, The Netherlands and the US.