Tchif Tchiakpe
Painter | Benin
Tchif (aka Francis Nicaise Tchiakpe) is an experimental colorist pur sang. In his abstract expressionist ‘total’ compositions, he freely explores various mediums such as acrylic, oil, pigments, ink and collage with textile fibers, paper or any other materials on canvas. His works emerge in various organic layers to which he adds his own symbolic language. That results in beautiful color compositions, full of nuance, movement and depth, estranged dream worlds in which there is a lot to discover.
Equally poetic are his latest series of figurative abstracts, iconic statements about life's seeming dualities.
I want to show the ferocity and enigmatic beauty of life.
Like the late Chinese painter Zao Woo-ki, in this fusion of materials and colors. I want to paint what you can sense but not see: the breath of life, the wind, the movement."
Portrait
Tchif (1973, Cotonou), also known as Francis Nicaise Tchiakpe, has been drawing and painting since the early age of 10. As most artists in Benin, he has developed himself as an autodidact. Starting off as a caricaturist for newspaper ‘La Nation’, he soon expanded his world of ink on paper and photography with painting on canvas, experimenting with different mediums. From early on he managed a successful independent art practice, exhibiting his first solo when he was only 21, crossing over to Europe the year after.
Tchif is an experimental colorist pur sang. In his abstract expressionist ‘total’ compositions, he explores freely various mediums such as acrylic, oil, natural pigments, ink and collage with textile fibers, paper or any other materials on canvas. His works emerge in various organic layers to which he adds his own symbolic language. Tchif: “I work barefoot on the ground. On the ground, I feel more comfortable. I feel closer to the painting, I am part of it. Sometimes I trample my works, to ‘tan’ them”.
That results in beautiful colour compositions in red ochres, blues, yellows, and other earthy colors, full of nuance, movement and depth. Estranged dream worlds in which there is a lot to discover. In Tchif’s world, life itself unfolds, centered around man and his relationship with the universe around him. A world full of movement, bright and dark sides, plunging depths, intriguing symbols and lines as cryptic indications of the complex laws that govern life: the cross represents suffering; the circle, the continuity of man; the zigzags, the joys and difficulties of life. Lines representing the random traces living species left behind, like compressed visualised poems adrift in the atmosphere, questioning life itself.
Firmly rooted and based in Cotonou/Benin, Tchif has built up an impressive artistic career over the years. He belongs to the national top of the contemporary art scene in Benin, where he is recognised as a permanent artist of the National Gallery – Contemporary Benin.
He is also well recognised internationally and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world. He not only exhibited in a wide range of countries on the African continent, such as Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Fasso, Niger, Mali, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Guinea and Morocco, but also way beyond in US, Brazil, Venezuela, Japan and across Europe in France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Portugal.
His works are included in various professional collections and have been shown in several musea in Benin, US, Brazil, France and Belgium, a.o. the prestigious National museum for African art Smithsonian in Washington.
Tchif (1973, Cotonou), also known as Francis Nicaise Tchiakpe, has been drawing and painting since the early age of 10. As most artists in Benin, he has developed himself as an autodidact. Starting off as a caricaturist for newspaper ‘La Nation’, he soon expanded his world of ink on paper and photography with painting on canvas, experimenting with different mediums. From early on he managed a successful independent art practice, exhibiting his first solo when he was only 21, crossing over to Europe the year after.
Tchif is an experimental colorist pur sang. In his abstract expressionist ‘total’ compositions, he explores freely various mediums such as acrylic, oil, natural pigments, ink and collage with textile fibers, paper or any other materials on canvas. His works emerge in various organic layers to which he adds his own symbolic language. Tchif: “I work barefoot on the ground. On the ground, I feel more comfortable. I feel closer to the painting, I am part of it. Sometimes I trample my works, to ‘tan’ them”.
That results in beautiful colour compositions in red ochres, blues, yellows, and other earthy colors, full of nuance, movement and depth. Estranged dream worlds in which there is a lot to discover. In Tchif’s world, life itself unfolds, centered around man and his relationship with the universe around him. A world full of movement, bright and dark sides, plunging depths, intriguing symbols and lines as cryptic indications of the complex laws that govern life: the cross represents suffering; the circle, the continuity of man; the zigzags, the joys and difficulties of life. Lines representing the random traces living species left behind, like compressed visualised poems adrift in the atmosphere, questioning life itself.
In his latest series, Tchif returns to his figurative abstract painting style, where he shows in one hand the duality of life, be it at a personal level or at large in society, and in the other the universality of it all. That results in a series of poetic almost mask-type portraits, beautiful and bold in their apparent simplicity. Where every line and color, every square cm seems to be exactly and consciously dosed: The opposing Les roi and Les visables, Mi Ange and Mi Ange1, but also the universal Les as de Dieu and Les as de coeurs.
Firmly rooted and based in Cotonou/Benin, Tchif has built up an impressive artistic career over the years. He belongs to the national top of the contemporary art scene in Benin, where he is recognised as a permanent artist of the National Gallery – Contemporary Benin.
He is also well recognised internationally and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world. He not only exhibited in a wide range of countries on the African continent, such as Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Fasso, Niger, Mali, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Guinea and Morocco, but also way beyond in US, Brazil, Venezuela, Japan and across Europe in France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Portugal.
His works are included in various professional collections and have been shown in several musea in Benin, US, Brazil, France and Belgium, a.o. the prestigious National museum for African art Smithsonian in Washington.
Works
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Credentials
2019
- AFRICA through ART INITIATIVE, Edge of Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
- AFRICA through ART INITIATIVE, Zou no Hana terrace, Yokohama, Japan
2017
- Collection 'Africa my name’s Job', Cotonou, Benin
2015
- Pointe à pitre, Guadeloupe
- Galerie Fremeaux, Vincennes, France
- Galerie Vallois, Paris, France
2014
- Eau, Feu et Terre, Barcelona, Spain
2013
- Exposition Zik Zac Festival, Aix en Provence, France
- Inauguration Galerie Tempo, Marseille, France
- Galerie Omenka, Lagos, Nigeria
- Mode is ART, Cotonou, Benin
2012
- Expositie Résidence d’artiste, Kourou, Guyane
2010
- Foot Culture – Installations, photos, Espace Tchif, Cotonou, Benin
2008
- Galerie Cardinal, Ajaccio, Corsica
2007
- Musée des Arts Derniers, Paris, France
2004
- Galerie Alizé, Brussels, Belgium
- Galerie Huijs Basten, Asbeck-Groenlo, Netherlands
2003
- IESA, Paris, France
2002
- Galerie Regards, Croisés, Paris, France
- Galerie d’art contemporain, Isle-sur-Sorgue, France
2001
- Elf Village, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
1999
- Visages d’Afrique, Galerie ABC, Dijon, France
- Autocritique, Centre Culturel Français, Cotonou, Benin
1998
- Galerie Espace Rivage, Paris, France
- Rêve d’un marabout, Ambassade de France, Cotonou, Benin
1997
- MJC, Vieux Lyon, France
1996
- GTZ, Cotonou, Benin
1995
- Zemidjans, Galerie l’Atelier, Cotonou, Benin
2024
- Révélation! Contemporary art from Benin, Conciergerie museum, Paris, France
- Gléhoué - Home of the Earth, OpenArtExchange, Schiedam (Rotterdam), Netherlands
- AKAA Paris, France, represented by OpenArtExchange
2023
- Révélation! Art Contemporain du Bénin, Martinique
- Art du Bénin, D’hier et d’Aujourd’hui: De La Restitution à la Révélation, Musée Mohammed VI, Rabat, Morocco
2022
- DAF Frankfurt, Germany, represented by OpenArtExchange
- Art The Hague, Netherlands, represented by OpenArtExchange
- Africa Now II, OpenArtExchange, Schiedam (Rotterdam), Netherlands
- Essence et résilience, Dak’Art biennale OFF, Dakar, Senegal
- Dyptique, Le Présidence du Benin, Cotonou, Benin
- Regards d’Afrique, Conakry, Guinée
- Art du Bénin, d’Hier et d’Aujourd’hui : De La Restitution à la Révélation, Présidence de la République, Cotonou, Benin
2021
- Contemporary Benin, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
- Expo Sobebra for 60 years independence of Benin
2018
- AKAA Paris, France
- 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair Marrakech 2018, Morocco
- ViewPoints on Africa’s Arts Washington, Washington DC, United States
2017
- AKAA Paris, France
2016
- AKAA Paris, France
- Centre d’art contemporain de Tanlay, France
- So art et design, Megève, France
- Carte et identité cloitre des billettes, Paris, France
2015
- Art St Germain des Près, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France
2014
- Art fair DUBAI 2014, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Monumental Africa-Maestri d’Africa in terra d’Umbria_Centro Espositivo Rocca Paolina Perugia, Italy
- Earth day Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, USA
- Koton’oo Dak’ART OFF, Galerie Arte, Dakar, Senegal
- Fleuve en couleurs, Saint-louis, Senegal
- Vivres Domaine de Chamarande, Essonne, France
- Africa-Africans, Museum Afro-Brasil, São Paolo, Brasil
2013-2014
- Blank Canvas, Art Twenty One, Lagos, Nigeria
2013
- Earth Matters, National Museum of African Art / Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States
2012 & 2010
- Biennale Benin, Cotonou, Benin
2009
- Africa ancestral e contemporanea, Centro municipal de Arte Helio Citica, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
2008
- O Benin está ainda là, Museum Afro-Brasil, São Paulo, Brasil
- Créafrique 3 Méjannes, Le Clap, France
- Expresiones Africanas 'Fondation Daniel Suarez', Caracas, Venezuela
- Espace d’art, Centre culturel Jacques Brel, Thionville, France
- 2ème Salon d’Art Contemporain, Brussels, Belgium
- Bénin Corps et Ame, Multimedia library, Melun, France
- Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Benin
- Un monde 'Toucouleur', Espace Landowski, Boulogne Billancourt, France
2007
- Institut des Etudes d’Afrique, Leiden, Netherlands
- Afriques, Espaces Humanités, Paris, France
2005
- Galerie Chiefs and Spirits, The Hague, Netherlands
2004
- FIAD, Les Afriques – Musée des Arts Derniers, Paris, France
- Biennale d’art contemporain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Africas, Galerie Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brasil
2002
- Sélection officielle 'Dak’art 2002', Biennale d’art contemporain, Dakar, Senegal
- Musée d’Art Moderne de l’ULB, Brussels, Belgium
- Exposition collective 8 artistes, Pontigny, France
2001
- Tchif, Quenum, Zinkpè, 3 jeunes béninois, traveling exposition in Benin, Niger, Burkina, Faso, Mali, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast
- Foire internationale d’Art Plastique, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
2000
- L’harmattan 2000, 1er salon béninois d’Art Contemporain, Cotonou, Benin
1999
- Pierre Galerie, Paris, France
- Exposition Boulev’ard, Cotonou, Benin
- Alliance Française, Lagos, Nigeria
1997
- Comme dirait l’autre, Biennale d’Art contemporain OFF, Lyon, France
- Zeitgenossische Kunst aus Africa, Frankfurt, Germany
- Mémoire d’esclave, Genève, Switzerland
1996
- Contre le G7, Galerie Chomarat, Lyon, France
1995
- ABC Expo, CCF, Cotonou, Benin
Tchif’s work is regularly shown in collective exhibitions of Galerie Vallois Paris and is included in various professional collections, such as:
- National Gallery Benin (permanent artist Contemporary Benin)
- Vallois, France
- Leridon, France
- Zinsou, Benin
- Blachère, France
- Smithsonian Museum Washington, United States
His works have been exhibited in various museums internationally, a.o. at:
- Fowler museum, Los Angeles, United States
- Museum Afro-Brasil, São Paulo, Brasil
- National museum for African Art Smithsonian, Washington, United States
- Musées des Arts Derniers, Paris, France
- Musée d’Art Moderne de l’ULB, Brussels, Belgium
His works have been auctioned at Drouot, Ferri and Millon & Associes in Paris, France
2024
- Gléhoué - Home of the Earth, OpenArtExchange, Schiedam (Rotterdam), Netherlands
- AKAA Paris, France, represented by OpenArtExchange
2022
- Africa Now II, OpenArtExchange, Schiedam (Rotterdam), Netherlands