Gérard Quenum & Vanessa Rosa

Project developed with the artist Gérard Quenum during an art residency in Cotonou, at Le Centre cultural space, Benin, West Africa.

This exhibition is an encounter between two artists with different references and artistic practices.

“Dialogue” is a series of nine paintings, in which Gérard Quenum’s portraits are transformed by the omnipresence of patterns, the mark of Vanessa Rosa’s work. The portraits are repeated, the eyes intersect, only the outfits change. Primarily from Portuguese culture, spotted in the streets of Brazil by the artist, and Adinkra symbols from Ghana, these patterns bring a complexity to these characters. Is it the same person? Who are they?

In a second part of the exhibition site, a documentary space presents the previous works of Vanessa Rosa as well as the different stages of the process of creation of the Afro-Brésil mural. On the occasion of this residency, the artists gifted the sculpture garden by creating a mural. Gérard Quenum’s catalogues are also presented.

Voyage is an installation composed of a pile of recovered dolls. Absorbed, jagged, these dolls symbolize the suffering of the beings who lost their lives trying to cross the seas and oceans. Vanessa Rosa also presents two personal creations, revealing the complexity of her artistic creation.

Text: Marion Hamard.