Gérard Quenum is a world renowned visual artist , who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of West African abstract figuration. A movement of which he has been at the forefront for the past two decades.

Quenum, whose practice is based in Porto-Novo (Benin), is a modest and quiet gentleman. Yet, works by the modern master frequently hauls front stage at major exhibitions in Paris, London and New York. 

Equally mesmerising and disconcerting, the minimalistic yet highly energetic canvases by Gérard Quenum, interrogate us on notions of humanism, societal conundrums, grief and the afterlife. 

Featuring chromatically pared down figures evolving within abstracted vacuities, permeated by primary colours, Quenum's paintings function as a Rorschach test of sorts, allowing for the extrapolation of myriads of potential scenarios unfolding inside the viewer’s own mind. In his practice, the artist strives to materialise the intangible essence of life. By exerting the deep seated and rich historical traditions of his native land, Quenum masterfully peers into the future. 

An iconoclast, a luminary, a free thinker and a radical optimist, Gérard Quenum offers a compelling message of hope and resilience against the sweeping regimes of imperialism, colonialism, totalitarianism, racism, and other abusive forms of power, like police brutality and military oppressions, which still plaguing the history of Mankind, perhaps even more so in our current day and age. 

Today, Quenum's oeuvre has been permanently incorporated into the preeminent collections of leading cultural institutions the likes of British Museum and Tate Modern in the UK, Stanford University in the US, Museum Afro-Brasil in Brazil, and Wereldmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  

Today, works by the seminal artist is included in numerous esteemed private collections in France, Belgium, England The Netherlands and The US.