Benin – Artist
Achille
Adonon
–
Name artworks
Des traces comme legs
“Des traces comme legs” deals with the anonymity hidden under her ceremonial veil (the shoes). The note of intent that my sculptural works of shoe assemblies advocated upstream would suggest the idea of an abstract representation of street children. I felt a certain need to materialize what the visible (my daily life) sold me. “Des traces comme legs” supports another doxa in my sculptural production. It addresses the commemorative or even ceremonial dimension of shoes. The footprints left by the humanities help build the legacy for generations to come.
Achille Adonon
Year
2021
Contacts
Des traces comme legs #01
Des traces comme legs #02
Biography
The look like a blank sheet, very little talkative, observant, serious, almost always isolated – hard not to notice it. Eyes immersed in the work to which he gives still alive while speaking, the artist’s personality magnetizes the interest of all those who gravitate around from him. Traveller between painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, performance, body painting to name only these disciplines, the works of Achille Adonon vacillate between forms, scriptures, phenomenological and divine symbols. From wood to canvas, from pen to paint through all the tools and recycled objects, the materials carrying his messages are diverse, varied and each meaning conveyed is unique. There, spread out in front of me, the large paper in A2 format motionless and mute has just been stabbed after being covered in scribbles. “It was not the material that I tore, but it was myself that I tore,” says the artist to make me understand that we consciously choose everything that happens, good or bad. Achille Adonon uses shoes to dictate his view of the world and the intangible to spectators. In facilities of all sizes, sneakers, moccasins, boots, ballerinas and other abandoned sandals are recycled to sing the hymns to the heart composed by the artist. Achilles illuminates with the lantern of his art the dark and primitive side of being human. And if “abandoned children” come up so often in his words, it is because he considers that the shoes are like abandoned children whom he recovers and cares for in order to offer them new life in a world where they can express themselves freely. The symbolism of this approach is clear: if the owners of all these shoes were united, the world would have a chance to avoid the atrocities he is fraught with. Holder of a great and unique creative spirit that he lodges in his body to the grace of “L’homme qui marche” by Alberto Giacometti, Achille Adonon was born in 1987. Visual artist Beninese, his know-how comes from the learning relationships he established with his elders and his own research in books and in workshops during art residencies. Originally from Benin, the talent and works of this visual artist perfume the stages of national contemporary art and international in recent years.
Academic background e Residences
2020 : ArtMéssiamé, Musée Paul Ayi – Lomé – Togo 2019 : La résilience, La Grande Place – Porto Novo- Bénin 2019 : In and Off Art Center -Douala – Cameroun 2019 : Oser inventer l’avenir, Institut Français (BISO) de Ouagadougou- Burkina-Faso 2018 : Résidence Sac O Dos- Cotonou- République du Bénin 2016 : Formation en photographie Arts Couleurs- Cotonou- Bénin 2015 : Formation en dessin, Le Centre Art et Culture de Lobozounkpa -Abomey-Calavi- Bénin 2015 : Résidence de création Cénacle Expérimental- Cotonou- Bénin 2014 : Formation en peinture à l’encre chinoise, Le Centre Culturel Chinois de Cotonou-Bénin
Solo exhibitions
2020 : Le Monde Fond, Le Centre Art et Culture de Lobozounkpa -Abomey-Calavi- Bénin 2019 : Visages d’enfants, Institut Français -Cotonou- Bénin 2016 : Découverte, Espace Culturel Le Parking -Cotonou- Bénin
Group exhibitions
2021 : ArtMéssiamé, La Restitution, Galerie Sator – Paris -France Là où est la mer…, CAC Passerelle – Brest -France 2020 : Culture Solidaire/Projet Un pas vers l’après, B7L9 Station – Tunis -Tunisie 2020 : Trait d’union, Bushman Café Hôtel -Abidjan- Côte d’Ivoire 2020 : La résilience, La Grande Place -Porto-Novo- Bénin. 2019 : Oser inventer l’avenir, In de la Biennale Internationale de la sculpture de Ouagadougou (BISO)- Burkina-Faso 2019 : Panorama, Le Centre Art & Culture de Lobozounkpa – Abomey-Calavi- Bénin 2018 : Gbèto (L’Homme), L’Imprévu- Cotonou- Bénin 2018 : Sac o dos (Réédition), Espace Culturel Le Parking – Cotonou- Bénin 2018 : Sac o dos, L’Espace Tchif – Cotonou- Bénin 2018 : Bazar de l’art, L’Espace Tchif – Cotonou- Bénin 2018 : Expo-vente, Dak’art Off, The Cosmopolitan (NGOR) – Dakar- Sénégal 2018 2018: Expo-vente, Dak’art Off, Maison de la Culture Urbaine (Ouakam) – Dakar- Sénégal 2017 : Expo-Découverte, Galerie Gèlèdé – Cotonou- Bénin 2015 : Couleurs croisées, Café des Arts chez Carine- Cotonou- Bénin