The Jean Pigozzi African Art Collection

ADA - 1994
136 x 207 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Agotonou 1 - 2008
121 x 170 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Ague - 1996
143 x 238 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Daguessou - 1992
150 x 246 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Damimi - 1994
140 x 211 cm

Dan Awolo - 1997
147 x 249 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Gbim-Coli et Couteau du Roi Kpingla - 1990
180 x 145 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Gononfohoue - 1995
150 x 230 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Goundo - 1995
154 x 228 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Guedevi (Royal City of Abomey) - 1997
149.5 x 247 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Ounguede/Le pacte de Sang-The Blood Pact - 1994
209 x 136 cm

Segbolissa - 1994
137 x 201 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Symbols and attributes of Tohossou Voodoo (Symboles et attributs du Voudoun Tohossou) - 1990
149 x 194 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Untitled - 1992
134 x 246 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Untitled - 1992
140 x 266 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Vodoun Agotonon Water Diety - 2000
158.5 x 235 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Vodoun Dangbe - 1995
181 x 255 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Woudjiwoudjigbe - 1995
181 x 256 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Zangan - 1994
146 x 217 cm
Acrylic on canvas

Zomandonou Ininflamable-Uninflammable - 1994
188 x 148 cm
Acrylic on canvas
Cyprien Tokoudagba

Cyprien Tokoudagba (1939 - 2012) was a sculptor and painter from Abomey, Benin.
He started to work as a restorer for the Abomey Museum in 1987, when he was hired to replicate the original bas-reliefs that told many of Dahomey's legends and stories while celebrating the individual kings for the new King Glelé royal palace façade, among the Royal Palaces of Abomey reconstructed by the government of Benin.
In contact with the very rich traditions of Benin painting, a country that was one of the most prominent cultural cradles of the African continent, and was chopped up by colonial boundaries, Cipryen Tokoudagba made his name as the master painter of vodoo temples in Benin, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria.
From the most modest (a single wall painting, Vodun divinity, or domestic or regional fetish...) to the most elaborate. These wall paintings are made up of the symbolic figureheads of political and especially religious power, and are often a confusion of both, as well as the geometrical cultural signs on the walls of the place of worship. The sculptures borrow from the traditions of Beninese sculpture, which is often anthropomorphic and very large. Concrete, a modern substitute for traditional materials, is worked on when it is still boxed, then carved before it is completely dry, and finally painted. These statues have the faces of Vodun divinities, of which Legba is the central figure.
Without abandoning the wall paintings that he is commissioned, Cyprien Tokoudagba undertook 1989 some large canvasses in which he combined, taking great liberties, the emblems of the kings of Abomey, symbols of the divinities (Earth, Fire, Water, Air) and various objects related to his culture. The combination of all these faces, objects and signs make his paintings look like a strange rebus.
Also in 1989, Cyprien left Benin for the first time to exhibit at “Magiciens de la Terre” in Paris, France. Tokoudagba's work was exhibited at the "Ouidah '92" festival, which celebrated Vodun art from Benin and the African Diaspora in Ouidah, Benin in February 1993.
His works have also been exhibited in the following museums: Smithsonian institution - National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC; Musée Dapper, Paris, France; Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Hayward Gallery, London, Englands; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; São Paulo Biennale, Brasil.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
Afriques. Artistes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui ; Fondation Clément, Martinique, France
2016
The Great Animal Orchestra, Fondation Cartier Paris, France
2015
Les Diables et les Dieux - Château de TANLAY, France
2012/2013
Nov 8 - Jan 13 2013
Biennale Bénin 2012, Inventing the World : The Artist as Citizen
2010
Oct 8 - Oct 25 2010
African Stories
Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech
2006
Dahomey, rois et dieux, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Benin
2005
29 Jan – 8 May
African Art Now : Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Houston - USA
2004
Africa Remix
Art contemporain d’un continent
24 July 2004 – 7 Nov 2004
Museum Kunst Palast
Düsseldorf - Germany
10 Feb 2005 – 17 April 2005
Hayward Gallery
London – England
25 May 2005 – 8 Aug 2005
Centre Georges Pompidou
Paris – France
27 May – 30 August 2006
Mori Art Museum
Tokyo
24 June – 30 Sept 2007
Johannesburg Art Gallery
2003
13/02 – 28/03
Transvangarde: Contemporary Art from Around the Planet
Kulturbrauerei
Berlin – Germany
2001
17/02 – 30/03
Anima Tribale, Corpo Metropolitano : Arte africana contemporanea
Tribal Soul, Metropolitan Body : Contemporary African art
Galleria Spazia
Bologna - Italy
2000 - 2001
16/11/00 – 27/01/01
Rendering Visible : Contemporary Art from the Republic of Benin
October Gallery
London - England
1998
24/04 – 30/04
Dak’Art 98
Dakar Biennale (3)
Dakar Senegal
1998
Bénin/Bénin tussen gisteren/morgen
Van Reekum Museum
Apeldoorm Galerie 20x2.
Arnhem, Hollande.
1998
11/09 – 24/11
Africa Africa Vibrant New Art from a Dynamic Continent
Tobu Museum of Art.
Tokyo, Japon.
1997
8+1
Centre Culturel Français
Cotonou, Bénin.
1997
Lumière Noire
Château de Tanlay
Centre d’Art cotemporain
Tanlay, France.
1996
05/10 – 08/12
Biennale de Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo, Brésil.
1996
09/03 – 05/05
Neue Kunst Aus Afrika
Im Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt.
Berlin, Allemagne.
1995-96
Rencontres Africaines
(exposition itinérante de l'Institut du Monde Arabe ; exposition réduite.)
Sommet francophone
Cotonou, Benin
Centre Culturel Français
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Centre Culturel Français
Abidjan, Côte-d'Ivoire
Centre Culturel Français
Casablanca, Maroc
Maison des Arts
Laon, France
1995
21/09 – 05/11
Big City
Serpentine Gallery.
Londres, Grande-Bretagne.
1995
Vital : three contemporary african artists
Tate Gallery.
Liverpool, Grande-Bretagne.
1994
06/04 – 15/08
Rencontres Africaines
Institut du Monde Arabe
Paris, France.
1994
Communauté Européenne
Cotonou, Bénin.
1993
Ouidah 92
Ouidah, Benin.
1993
15/12 – 14/03
The Boundary Rider
Biennale de Sydney
Sydney, Australie.
1993
25/06 – 25/09
La Grande Vérité, les Astres Africains
Musée des Beaux arts
Nantes. France.
1992
Oct/Dec
Out of Africa
Saatchi Collection.
Londres, U.K.
1991 - 1992
Africa Hoy, Africa Now
Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporaneo
Mexico D.F. - Mexico
Groningen Museum
Groningen - Netherlands
Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – Spain
1991
06/07 – 04/08
Ny Afrikans Billed-Kunst
Rundetarn.
Copenhaguen, Denmark.
1989
18/05/89 – 14/08/89
Magiciens de la Terre
Centre Georges Pompidou,
Grande Halle de la Villette,
Musée national d’Art moderne
Paris - France
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1995
Cyprien Tokoudagba
Ifa-Galerie
Bonn - Germany
Allemagneifa-Galerie
Stuttgart, Germany
1995
Cyprien Tokoudagba
Musée du Cloître - Peuple et Culture
Tulle, France
1991
Cyprien Tokoudagba
Centre Culturel Français
Cotonou. Bénin
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2005
Africa Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
Exhibition catalogue. Published by Merrell in association with the MFAH.
2004
Africa Remix
Exhibition catalogue. Published bt Hatje Cantz Verlag.
2001
Anima Tribale, Corpo Metropolitano
Exhibition catalogue. Tribal Soul, Metropolitan Body.
Arte africana contemporanea.
L’Artiere edizionitalia.
2001
Rendering Visible : Contemporary Art from the Republic of Benin
Exhibition catalogue. October Gallery, London.
1998
Cimaise : Special issue, n° 253
Served as exhibition catalogue for Dakar Biennal.
1998
Visual Arts and Culture.
An International Journal of Contemporary Art.
African Art. World, Frontier, Territory by André Magnin.
Texte in English, available in French.
1998
Africa Africa
Vibrant New Art from a Dynamic Continent. Tobu Museum. Tokyo, Japon.
1997
Lumière Noire
Catalogue d’exposition, Centre d’Art de Tanlay.
1996
Vaudou
Henning Christoph & Hans Oberlander. Tachen, Köln
1996
Neue Kunst Aus Afrika
Catalogue d’exposition.
Im Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt.
Berlin, Allemagne.
1996
Universalis
23. Bienal Internacional Sao Paulo.
Livre-Catalogue d’exposition. Fundaçao Bienal de Sao Paulo.
1996
Contemporary Art of Africa.
Cyprien Tokoudagba, texte en anglais de Jacques Soulillou, p.40-43.
Edited by André Magnin & Jacques Soulillou. Published Harry N. Abraams,
New-York.
1996
Cyprien Tokoudagba
Exhibition catalogue: Iris Lenz, Monkia Winkler, André Magnin et al.
1996
Arts & the Islamic World 27-28
Nesbitt, Judith, “Africa 95: Three Artists at the Tate Liverpool,”
1995
Vital Three Contemporary African Artists
Catalogue d’exposition.
The Link between Earth and Sky. Tate Gallery, Liverpool.
1994
Rencontres Africaines.
Catalogue d’exposition.
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.
1994
Revue Noire, March-April-May, 1994, pg 16-7
1993
La Grande Vérité, les Astres Africains.
Catalogue d’exposition.
Musée des Beaux arts de Nantes. France.
1993
Biennale de Sydney.
Catalogue d’exposition.
1992
Out of Africa.
Catalogue d’exposition.
The Jean Pigozzi Contemporary Art Collection @ the Saatchi Collection, Londres.
1991
Africa Hoy. Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno.
Catalogue d’exposition. Cyprien Tokoudagba p.143-149.
Las palmas, Gran Canaria.
1991
Ny Afrikansk Billedkunst.
Catalogue d’exposition.
Rundetarn. -Copenhague, Danemark.
1989
Magiciens de la terre
Livre-catalogue d’exposition. Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris.