Joseph-Francis Sumégné was born on 30 July 1951 in Bamenjou, Cameroon. Painter and sculptor since 1976, he is a self-taught artist. He lives and works in Yaoundé (Cameroon).

Biography

Influenced by the engravings and the tattoos that he observed on his grandmother's body and pillars of the royal houses to the west of Cameroon, he drew a lot during his childhood in the village. He then got introduced to different types of artistic practices (sculpture, colorization, jewelry, basketry and weaving), the combination of which will characterize his future work. His works are marked by the influences of traditional sculpture in his home region. The fusion of found objects linked with copper wire and stitches that he invents, confront the challenge of the free volume. Concretizing his desires, pains, passions, indignations and dreams through his sculptures, Sumégné invents his philosophy and his technique of JALA'A to manifest and magnify self-transcendence. The topics addressed by Sumégné are multiple: masks and characters of traditional powers, men and women on the move (dancers, pushed-pushers), scenes out of his daily environment. Invited to a do a residency in Douala by

doual'art doual'art is a non profit cultural organisation and art centre founded in 1991 in Douala, Cameroon and focussed on new urban practices of African cities. History doual'art was registered as a non profit organization in 1992 and it was establish ...

for three years, from 1993 to 1996, Sumégné made his

La Nouvelle Liberté ''La Nouvelle Liberté'' is a public artwork in the Deido suburb, in Douala ( Cameroun). The Artwork La Nouvelle Liberté is the most famous and emblematic artwork of Douala, which today has become a symbol of the city. Produced by Joseph-Fra ...

, a monumental sculpture of 12 meters in height. He has been invited to create outdoor works in Gabon, France and Germany. His latest urban creation was ''Le monument pour la Paix'' for the contemporary art biennale of Bangui, in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. He has exhibited in several countries, including Japan for the triennial of Osaka (1998) and the Netherlands for the triennial of Arnhem (2008). In 2004, he participated in the biennale of Dakar (Senegal), in a one-man show in the official selection, where he presented his series of sculptures ''Les neufs notables'' to an international audience for the first time. His latest big public presentation took place in 2014 at ArtFair London, in the United Kingdom. In 2015, he reunited with painting.

Expositions

Individual

* 2008 ** Mouvements de poussière-Espace

, Douala * 2005 ** Les neuf Notables-Espace

, Douala * 2003 ** Exposition sans titre de Joseph-Francis Sumégné-Espace

, Douala * 2002 ** Exposition de sculptures de Joseph-Francis Sumégné-Espace

, Douala

Collective

* 2010 ** Cameroonian Touch.2, Espace

, Douala * 2008 ** Sonsbeek 2008: grandeur, Sonsbeek International Sculpture Exhibition, Arnhem * 2007 **

Africa Remix Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

-Contemporary art of a continent, Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG),

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

* 2006 **

-Contemporary Art of a Continent, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo ** Guerre contre la Pauvreté, Espace

, Douala * 2005 **

-l'art contemporain d'un continent, Centre Pompidou – Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris **

-Contemporary Art of a Continent, Hayward Gallery,

Londres Londres may refer to: Locations * London, capital of the United Kingdom and England, called ''Londres'' in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician, and Filipino * Londres, Catamarca, Argentina, formally "San Juan de la Ribera de Londres" ...

* 2004 **

-Zeitgenössische Kunst eines Kontinents, Museum Kunst Palast,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

** 6e Biennale de l'Art africain contemporain, Dak'Art

Biennale de Dakar Biennale (), Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. As such the term was popular ...

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

* 1998 ** Dak'Art 1998, Biennale de l'Art africain contemporain, Dak'Art

References

Bibliography

* Marie-Laure Bernadac et

Simon Njami Simon Njami (born 1962 in Lausanne) is a writer and an independent curator, lecturer, art critic and essayist. He published his first novel "Cercueil et Cie" in 1985, followed by "Les Enfants de la Cité" in 1987, and "Les Clandestins" and "Afri ...

(dir.), ''Africa Remix : l'art contemporain d'un continent'' (exposition présentée au Centre Pompidou, Galerie 1, du 25 mai au 8 août 2005), Éditions du Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2005, * Dominique Malaquais, ''Une nouvelle liberté ? Art et politique urbaine à Douala (Cameroun)'' in ''Afrique & histoire'', Dossier : Villes d'Afrique : circulations et expressions culturelles, 2006/1 (vol. 5), .
Joseph Francis Sumégné
in ''

Africultures ''Africultures'' is a publication of arts and culture about and from Africa and its diasporas. Based in Paris, it was founded in 1997 under the impetus of Olivier Barlet by journalists and academics such as Virginie Andriamirado, Gérald Arnaud, ...

''. * Dominique Malaquais, ''Quelle Liberté : Art, Beauty and the Grammars of Resistance in Douala'' in ''Beautiful/Ugly : African and diaspora aesthetics'', (dir.) Sarah Nuttall, Duke University Press Library & Prince Claus Fund, Durham & The Hague, 2006, . , 9780795701863 * Christian Hanussek, ''La Nouvelle Liberté-Le Nju-Nju du Rond-Point'' in ''Douala in Translation'', (dir.) Marilyn Douala Bell, Episode Publishers, Rotterdam, 2007, . * Batchou, W. F. (2014): Cameroun- Art plastiques: L’escale sculpturale de Joseph Francis Sumegne. Cemerpost

* Christel, A. (2015). Impressionnisme et expressionnisme sculptural dans l'oeuvre de Joseph Francis Sumegne. Artkmermouth

* Hanussek, C. (2001). Cameroon: An Emerging Art Scene. Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, 2001(13–14), pp. 100–105. * Lequeux, E. (2012). A Douala, la princesse qui veut éveiller les consciences. Culture

* Linge, I. (2010). Joseph Francis Sumegne ou l'art de la nouvelle liberté. Journal du Camero

* N'Goné, F., Loup, P. J. (2001). Anthologie de l'art africain du XXe siècle. Paris: Revue Noire Editions, Paris, pp. 268 * Nehdi, D. (2012): Sumegne Joseph Francis : c’est la quête du chef-d’œuvre qui détermine un artiste. Culturebene

* Noubissi, V. (2016): La Nouvelle liberté séduit Douala. Agricdev

* Osaka Triennale 1998. (1998). 1st ed. Osaka: Osaka Prefectural Government: Osaka Foundation of Culture, p. 62. * Raphael, D. Hommage à Joseph Francis Sumegne: Fils de Bamendjou et créateur de la statue de la nouvelle liberté à Douala-Cameroun

* Pensa, Iolanda (Ed.) 2017. Public Art in Africa. Art et transformations urbaines à Douala /// Art and Urban Transformations in Douala. Genève: Metis Presses.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumégné, Joseph-Francis 1951 births Living people Cameroonian contemporary artists Cameroonian painters People from Yaoundé