Peintre Moke: 'Painter Reporter' Of City Life

Congo, (DRC) Thu 01-04-2010

Peintre Moke: 'Painter Reporter' Of City Life
Source: contemporaryafrica.com

Images: Africancontemporary.com
Compiled by Carl Odera/ AfricanColours.com

Moke was born Monsenguro Kejwamfi in 1950 in Ibe, Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Seen rightly as a “painter reporter” of city life, artist Moke was among the leading artists of the school of popular painting that sprung up in Kinshasa in the first decade of Zaïre’s independence.

Moke arrived in Kinshasa at the age of ten, living hand to mouth and day by day. Discovering that there was a market for paintings, he taught himself how to render landscapes on discarded pieces of cardboard.

'Bus' | 2001 | Oil on canvas | 60x115 cm

In 1965 he painted a picture representing General Mobutu waving to the crowds as he led the parade commemorating Independence Day; this composition, which he returned to many times in later years, launched Moke’s career.

He set up a studio at the crossroads of Kasa Vubu and Bolobo avenues, the district where many billboard and advertising artists worked, and immersed himself in the daily life of the city from which he drew his inspiration.

Artist Moke adopted the conventions of commercial art, boldly outlining his robust figures without concern for likeness or perspective.

Instead, he celebrated the painterly aspects of his art, using a rich palette and vividly animated compositions. Unlike Chéri Samba or Cheik Ledy, who were to follow in his footsteps, Moke rarely depicted social conflict.

Untitled | 1990 | Oil on canvas | 103x74 cm

Rather, his sympathetic and vivaciously humorous paintings were grounded in his observation of daily life in Kinshasa: street scenes, bars, the local dandies known as sapeurs, the powerful Miziki (associations of financially independent women), all-night parties, neighborhood disputes, and public ceremonies all found their way into his canvases.

Some notable exhibitions and showcases:

2010 - "Africa 2.0 > is there a 'contemporary african art?'" - Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal

2007 / 2008 - "Popular Painting from Kinshasa" - Tate Modern, London - U.K.

- "Why Africa?" - Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin, Italy

2006 / 2007 - "100% Africa" - Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

2005 - "15 ans de transition" - Memling Hotel, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

- "Arts of Africa" - Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, France

- "African Art Now : Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection" - Museum of Fine Art Houston, Houston, USA

2004 - "Peinture populaire congolaise" - ADEIAO – Centre d’Etudes Africaines, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme
Paris,France

2003 - "Kin Moto na Bruxelles" - Hôtel de Ville, Brussels,Belgium

- "Regards Croisés" - La Galerie d’Art de Creteil, Créteil, France

- "Der Rest der Welt" - Neuffer am Park, Pirmasens, Germany

2002 - "MOKE" - MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland

- "Kinshasa, Congo - Moke, Cheri Samba, Rigobert" - Espace Croisé, Contemporary Art Center, Roubais, France

2001 - "Un Art Populaire" - Cartier Fondation for Contemporary Art, Paris, France

1995-1996 - "An Inside Story : African Art of our Time Beyong Art" - Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo; The Tokushima Modern Art Museum, Himeji City Museum of Art; Koriyama City Museum of Art; Marugame Inokuma-Genichiro Museum of Contemporary Art; The Museum of fine Art, Gifu, JAPAN

1993-1994 - "Skizzen eines Projektes Afrika Im Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst" - Ludwig, Germany

1992 - "Out of Africa" - Saatchi Gallery, London, UK

1991-1992 - "Africa Hoy / Africa Now" - Atlantic Center of Modern Art, Las Palmas, Gran Canary, Cultural Center of Contemporary Art, Mexico City; Groningen Museum, Groningen, Holland

1991 - "Ny Afrikansk Billedkunst Rundetarn" - Copenhagen, Danemark

1985 - "Peintre Populaires du Zaire - L'art vivant d'Afrique Centrale" - Montreal University; Marius-Barbeau Museum; Gallery Trompe-l'oeil - Media Center, Quebec

1979 - "Moderne Kunst aus Afrika, Horizante'79" - Stautliche Kunsthalle Berlin, Germany

1978 - "Art Partout" - Fine Art Academy, CIAF, Kinshasa, RD Congo

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