- 2006

Plastic, metal, textile

- 2006

62.5 x 84.5 x 20 cm
Mixed media, glass, copper, iron, plastic

Aide-soignante - 2007

55 x 40 x 23.5 cm
Iron, plastic, ceramic

Amazone (Ochoukpa) - 2007

47 x 34 x 18,5 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, padlocks and shoe

Ambassadeur - 2010

40 x 35 x 12 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic, paper, light bulbs and synthetic hair

Change-moi la lame - 2006

58.5 x 44 x 17 cm
Plastic, iron, copper

Dessinateur - 2008

49 x 34 x 17 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic, lighters and pencils with eraser

Ferme ta gueule – Mind Your Own Business - 2002

62.5 x 69 x 23 cm
Metal, plastic, steel, rubber and other found materials

Géomètre - 2007

67 x 50 x 18 cm
Iron, copper, plastic, glasses

Heviosso - 2007

76.5 x 57 x 26.5 cm
Plastic, iron, glass, copper, wood

Hounsa - 2007

79 x 75 x 19 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic, rubber, colored pencils and shoe

Kponthemin - 2008

42 x 38 x 18 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic and nail clippers

La cuisine - 2007

56 x 45 x 14.5 cm
Iron, aluminium, cotton, copper

La famine - 2006

60 x 29 x 30 cm
Plastic, copper, aluminium

La mort debout - 2005

85 x 40 x 26 cm
Iron, plastic, glass

La mort debout – Resuscitated - 2002

59 x 40 x 29 cm
Steel, metal, ceramic, plastic, glass, rubber and other founStd materials

Le bonheur - 2007

60 x 52 x 26 cm
Plastic, glass, copper, iron

Le chat - 2002

108 x 108.5 x 22.6 cm
Steel, metal, glass, vinyl and mixed materials

Le repas - 2003

81 x 79.5 x 12 cm
Metal, wood and mixed materials

Médiateur - 2010

43 x 36 x 17 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic (pearls) and synthetic hair

Maman Binze - 2009

44 x 35 x 22 cm
Mixed media:
Iron, copper, plastic (pearls) and synthetic hair

Mamissi - 2007

69 x 64 x 29 cm
Mixed media

Oba - 2007

64 x 63 x 12 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic and pens

Ocha - 2007

44 x 39.2 x 15.4 cm
Metal, glass, plastic

Ochoukpa (Maman Tchinvié) - 2006

57 x 35 x 16 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic, glass, paper, light bulbs and safety pins

Papa Sodabi - 2002

63 x 53.8 x 24 cm
Steel, metal, plastic, glass and other found materials

Pasteur - 2007

38 x 36 x 14 cm
Iron, plastic, glass

Perroquet - 2005

83 x 56 x 38 cm
Iron , plastic, copper

Proviseur - 2010

40 x 25 x 12 cm
Mixed media:
Metal, plastic, electric bulbs and synthetic hair

Woli - 2007

50.5 x 48 x 16.5 cm
Metal, glass, plastic

Calixte Dakpogan

Born 1958, Pahou, Benin

Lives and works in Porto Novo, Benin

Calixte Dakpogan’s Vodun heritage is intrinsic to his work. Born to a family of blacksmiths, he grew up in the Goukoumé district of Porto Novo, Benin, a district dedicated to Ogun, the god of iron. Ogun is the principal deity worshiped by the Dakpogan family, and the tradition of metalworking has been carried from father to son since their ancestor Sabgo Ayato worked as a blacksmith in the royal court of King Toffa.

The abundance of car wreckages in Porto Novo has provided Calixte Dakpogan with an inexhaustible source of materials. (A symbol of power, the automobile is rightly placed under the protection of god Ogun.) Together with his brother Théodore, he began to use scavenged car parts to create standing figures, following directly in the tradition of Fon statues made from scrap iron in the early nineteenth century. In 1992 the two brothers were commissioned to create a series 100 of these works for Ouidah 92: The First International Festival of Vodun Arts and Cultures, and their contribution remains on permanent display. Today, after an interval of one and a half centuries, the relationship between Fon sculptures and the work of Calixte Dakpogan transcends purely visual or technical aspects, being intimately related with the creative process.

Since 1990, Calixte has worked independently, using salvaged metallic and plastic elements to create anthropomorphic figures and masks. A gas tank becomes a body or headlights become teeth. Two formless segments become a recognizable personage. His creations, full of talent, humour, and stories, are imbued with a contemporary imagination and an astounding inventiveness. The artist has commented: “I love children. They are very important in my work as they talk to me about what they see and make comments that inspire me profoundly. All of my sculptures speak of my country, my culture, my surroundings and my beliefs, as well as of the entirety of my worldview. I work with recovered materials since they are burdened with time and transformed by usage, conferring a degree of vitality upon my sculptures that I would be able to attain if I used new materials.”

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017

Art/Afrique, le nouvel atelier. Les Initiés, un choix d’œuvres (1989 – 2009) dans la collection d’art africain contemporain de Jean Pigozzi. Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France (04/26/17 to 09/04/17)

2016

Essentiel Paysage, Al Maaden Art Gallery, Contemporary African Art Center, Marrakech, Morocco

2015

1:54 Contemporary African Art fair, New York, USA

2014

Luminós/C/ity.Ordinary Joy: From the Pigozzi Contemporary African Art Collection, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Museu Picasso, Barcelona

2013/2014

Raw Vision : 25 ans d’Art Brut, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris

2011

Riad Al Maaden, Marrakech, Morocco

Reconfiguring an African Icon : Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three

Continents, Metropolitan Museum, NY, USA

2010

African Stories

Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech

2009 - 2010

Africa? Una nuova storia, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy

2007/2008

Why Africa?

Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli

Turin, Italy

2007

Masques rituels et contemporains, Fondation Jean Paul Blachère, Apt - France

2006/2007

100% Africa, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

2005

Arts of Africa, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco - France

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

2000

Fait Maison, Permanent sculpture inaugurated on November 10, 2000, Musée International des Arts Modestes Sête, France

Partage d’Exotismes, 5ème Biennale de Lyon, France

2000

Rendering Visable : Contemporary Art from the Republic of Benin

The October Gallery

1998 – 1999 (travelling exhibition

Forjar el Espacio : La Escultura Forjada en el siglo XX

* Nov - Feb 1998

Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

* April 1999

IVAM Centre Julio González

Valencia - Spain

* 26/06/99 – 30/09/99

Musée des Beaux Arts et de la Dentelle

Calais – France

1998

Bénin-/Bénin, Gisteren-Tussen-Morgen

Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn Galerie 20x2

Arnhem – Hollande

Triennale der Kleinplastik (7): Afrika-Europa, Les Écoles philosophiques.

Stuttgart Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen

SüdwestLB Forum

Stuttgart - Germany

1997

8+1, Centre Culturel Français, Cotonou - Benin

1997

Lumière Noire, Centre d'Art de Tanlay-Yonne

Yonne - France

1995

Johannesburg Biennale (1), Africus.

Johannesburg, South Africa,

February 28-April 30, 1995 (Catalogue: Allen Bowyer et al.)

1994 (travelling exhibition)

Otro país: escalas africanas.

* November 15, 1994-January 15, 1995

Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno

Las Palmas, Spain:

* February 15-April 16, 1995

Fundacion La Caixa

Palma de Mallorca. Spain

* May-September, 1995

Palau de la Virreina

Barcelona, Spain

* (Catalogue: Simon Njami and Joëlle Busca)

1993

Ouidah 92. The First International Festival of Vodun Arts and Cultures.

Ouidah, Benin

1992

Dakar Biennale (1) Dak’Art 92

Dakar, Senegal:

(Catalogue: Moustapha Ka and Amadou Lamine Sall)

1991

Calixte Dakpogan, Centre Culturel Français

Cotonou, Benin.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2021

Ex Africa - Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac - Sous la direction de Philippe Dagen - Gallimard, Paris

2017

Les Initiés, un choix d’œuvres (1989 – 2009) dans la collection d’art africain contemporain de Jean Pigozzi. Editions Dilecta, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France. Exhibition catlaogue

2014

Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Exhibition catalogue, Museu Picasso, Barcelona, pgs 74-77.

2007

Why Africa?

Exhibition catalogue. Published by Electa & Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli.

2006

100% Africa

Exhibition catalogue. Published by TF Editores & FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.

2005

African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection

Exhibition catalogue. Published by Merrell.

2001

Rendering Visible : Contemporary Art from the Republic of Benin

Exhibition catalogue. Published by The October Gallery.

2000

Lyon Biennale d’Art Contemporain (5) Partage d’Exotismes

Exhibition catalogue. Thierry Prat, Thierry Raspail, and Jean-Hubert Martin.

2000

Forjar el Espacio : La Escultura Forjada en el siglo XX

Exhibition catalogue.

1998

Bénin-Bénin, Gisteren-Tussen-Morgen.

Exhibition catalogue. Fritz Bless et al.

1997

Lumière Noire : Art Contemporain

Exhibition catalogue. Underwitten by the French Connection.

1996

Contemporary Art of Africa

André Magnin and Jacques Soulillou eds.,

1995

Africus : Johannesburg Biennale 1995

Exhibition catalogue. Contributors include Rasheed Araeen; Ery Camara; Arthur C. Danto; Bongi Dhlomo; Rashid Diab; Amareswar ...

1994

Otro pais: escalas africanas

Exhibition catalogue. Simon Njami and Joelle Busca. Published by Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Fundacion La Caixa in Palma de Mallorca.

1992

Dakar Biennale (1). Dak’Art 92

Exhibition catalogue : Moustapha Ka and Amadou Lamine Sall).