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Steve Bandoma is concerned about themes such as enculturation, identity, conflict between tradition and modernity and the materiality of the West world. However, he addresses these topics through his works with humor, in an ironic way most of the times.
“My work always seeks new ways to explore human nature, emotions, experiences, feelings, insights with a smile, in a way that lift people out of their daily lives.”
Steve Bandoma was born in 1981 in Kinshasa. In 2004, he graduated from the Kinshasa Academy of Fine Arts and then opted to move to South Africa, where he gradually constructed his own style, raised his profile, began to exhibit regularly and finally managed to make a name for himself on the South African art scene. In 2009, Bandoma hit the road again, traveling to Paris to take up a residency at the Cité Nationale des Arts. In 2011, he exhibited his work at Art Basel, in Pointe Noire and London, and finally moved back to Kinshasa in 2012, where he showed his work at the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles and at the French Institute.
Bandoma was part of the creators of Librisme Syngerie, an Avant-Gard collective that suggested a free and innovative approach to art. This is still present in most of his works. After trying many techniques, different art fields and materials, he has adopted a very personal technique, mostly consisting of paintings and collages on paper or sculptures made by recycled materials. He is driven by issues like politics, religion, the environment or racial differences, always expressed in a very chaotic and bizarre way in order to reflect the energy and violence of the present world, although the final product does usually result in a harmonious composition.
Bandoma considers himself ‘contemporary’ and ‘universal’, therefore, he is concerned about themes such as enculturation, identity, conflict between tradition and modernity and the materiality of the Western world. However, he addresses these topics through his works with humor, in an ironic way most of the times.
Several of Steve Bandoma’s artworks were exhibited at the Beauté Congo – Congo Kitoko exhibition at the Fondation Cartier (Paris). Steve’s work was recently exhibited at the Texaf-Bilembo Cultural Centre in Kinshasa as well as in solo shows in Italy, Spain, Belgium, London and Cape Town, but also in art fairs like AKAA with Angalia (Paris, 2019) and 1-54 with MAGNIN-A (London, 2017).
Papier de Societé, Espace Texaf Bilembo, Kinshasa, R.D. Congo
Camouflages, Sulger-Buel Gallery, Londen, UK
Présentation au siège des Carabinieri, Rome, Italie
Possession, EspaceTexaf-Bilembo, Kinshasa, R.D. Congo
Swab Art Fair, solo show presented for the Gallery Angalia, Barcelona, Spain
Kin la bele, Jack Bell Gallery, London, Royaume Uni
Combat du siècle, Gallery Antonio Nardone, Brusseles, Belgium
Jack Bell Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Mutatis Mutandis, Centre Culturel Français de Kinshasa, R.D. Congo
Jack Bel Gallery, London, United Kingdom
L’heure des shocs, Wallonie Brussels International de Kinshasa
Centre Culturel Français, Pointe-Noire, Congo Brazavile
Féminisme, Cité Internationale des Arts de Paris
AVA Gallery, Cape Town
Contempocalypse, Aliance Française du Cape Town
Group expo “Africa reborn”, Quai Branly Museum, Paris, France
Trio expo “Papiers de Societé”, Espace Texaf Bilembo, Kinshasa, R.D. Congo
Discovery Art Fair via OpenArtExchange, Frankfurt, Germany
Hello 2020!, OpenArtExchange, Schiedam, The Netherlands
The fight of the Century, Kloser art Gallery, Kalmthout, Belgium
Luxembourg Art Fair, international art fair via OpenArtExchange, LuxExpo The Box, Luxembourg
ST-ART, international art fair via OpenArtExchange, Strasbourg, France
New World, OpenArtExchange, Schiedam, The Netherlands
Na Kinshasa Eza Possible, Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris, France
Généalogies Futures, Biennale de Lubumbashi
Megalapolis – Stimmen aus Kinshasa, Grassi Muséum, Leipzig, Germany
African passions, Palais Cadaval via Galerie Magnin-A, Evora, Portugal
1-54, Contemporary African Art Fair via Galerie Magnin-A, London, UK
Art Paris via Galerie Magnin-A, Paris, France
Salon Zürcher Africa, Galerie Zürcher, Angalia, Paris, France
Lumières d’Afriques, Palais des Nations, Genève, Suisse
AKAA Paris, African contemporary art fair via Galerie Angalia, Carreau du Temple, Paris, France
1-54, Contemporary African Art Fair via Galerie Magnin-A, London, UK
Demain Kinshasa, Journées Utopiques, Programme Culturel Franco Alemand, Institut Français, Kinshasa, R.D. Congo
African Artists Enlightenment, African Artists for Development (AAD), Abidjan, Côte d’Lvoire
African Artists Enlightenment, African Artists for Development (AAD), Paris
Towards Intersection, Kauru Contemporary Art from Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
African Imagined, Sandtown Art Gallery, Johannesburg
Beauté Congo-Congo Kitoko, Foundation Cartier, Paris
Ostrale ‘015, 9th International Exhibition Contemporary of Art, Germany
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Jack Bell Gallery, Somerset House, London
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Jack Bell Gallery, NewYork
Congo across the water, New Orleans Museum of Art, USA
Congo across the water, Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA
Congo across the water, Musée Royal del’ Afrique Central, Tervuren, Belgium
Paris Art Fair, Magnin-A, Paris
Galerie Antonio Nardone, OFF Art Fair, Brussels
London Art Fair, Jack Bell Gallery, London
Congo across the water, Le Musée Samuel P. Méfaits, Florida, USA
Congo across the water, University Press of Florida, USA
Maendeleo, Centre Walon d’Art Contemporain, Chantainairaie, Belgium
Lubumbashi Inakaribisha Kinshasa, Dialogues ASBL, Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo
Les Fanthomes à Jack cloche Gallery, London
The Menippean uprising, Blank project gallery, Cape Town
Focus11, Contemporary African Art, Salon d’Art Basel, Switzerland
Frech, Everard Read Galery, Cape Town
Deux mille dix raisons de vivre dans une petite ville, Ghothe on Main, Johannesburg
OpenArtExchange, Schiedam, The Netherlands
Généalogie futures, Pisha, Biennal of Lubumbashi
Mutatismutandis, Institut Français, Kinshasa, D.R. Congo
Foundation Nirox, with Geofrey Hendrick and Lorenzo Fusi, Johannesburg
Institut Français de Pointe-noire, Congo Brazavile
Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
Main d’oeuvres, Esapce for Creation and Citizen, Paris
Businessman, Infecting the City Festival, Africa Centre, Cape Town
F+F École des Arts, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Visa for the Culture) Zürich, Switzerland
Greatmore Studios, Cape Town
Steve Bandoma is the recipient of several prizes and residency grants (nominee Prix de la cité Strasbourg at ST-ART Strasbourg (10 best artists), Pro Helvetia, Zurich; visa pour la creation, Cultures France; Art Buzz Book 2009 Collection, USA).
He has also been a teacher in South Africa, member of various artistic projects (Visual Art Network in South Africa, African Art Institute) and co-curator of the Amani Art Festival in Cape Town.
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