The Jean Pigozzi African Art Collection

Moke

Born 1950, Ibe, Bandundu Province, Belgian Congo

Died in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2001

Seen rightly as a “painter reporter” of city life, 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. He 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. 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.

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. 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.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2014

Moké, une collection particulière 1991-1992, Galerie Espace Lorraine, Brussels

2002

Afrique dans les murs

Les Naufragés du Temps

St Malo - France

2002

Monsenguro Kejwamfi dit Peitre Moke « Grand maître de la peinture zaïroise »

MAMCO - Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain

Geneva - Switzerland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018

Congo Stars, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria

From Vietnam to Berlin, Asia Culture Institute, Gwangju, South Korea

2017

Afro-Tech and the Future of Re-Invention, HMKV Hartware Medien Kunst Verein, Dortmund, Germany

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

The Great Animal Orchestra, Fondation Cartier Paris, France

2015

Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko, Fondation Cartier, Paris, France

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

2013

Peintres reporters de l’urbanité, à Kinshasa, Latitude 21, Dijon, France

2011

JapanCongo

Magasin Grenoble, France

Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia

2010

African Stories

Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech

Africa 2.0, Is there a contemporary african art?, Influx Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal

2007/ 2008

Popular Painting from Kinshasa, Tate Modern, London

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

2007

Tohu Bohu à Kinshasa. Peintures populaires et installations, Musée de Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

2006

100% Africa

Guggenheim Museum

Bilbao, Spain

2005

Arts of Africa

Grimaldi Forum

Monaco - France

2005

African Art Now : Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection

Museum of Fine Art Houston

Houston - USA

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

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

2003

Regards Croisés

La Galerie d’Art de Creteil

Créteil - France

2003

Der Rest der Welt

Neuffer am Park

Pirmasens, Germany

2002

"MOKE"

MAMCO, Geneva.

2002

"Kinshasa, Congo" Moke, Cheri Samba, Rigobert.

Espace Croisé, Conntemporary 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, Great Britain.

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.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biblio ENG

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 catalogue

2015

Beauté Congo 1926-2015 Congo Kitoko, Fondation Cartier, Exhibition catalogue

2015

Krause-Wahl, Antje, Schütze, Irene, Aspekte Künstlerischen Schaffens Der Gegenwart, Weima, 2015

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.

2004

Moke, Chéri Samba: peinture populaire congolaise, Volume 21 des Cahiers de l'ADEIAO, Éditeur ADEIAO ; Centre d'Études Africaines (EHESS-CNRS) ; Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 2004

2003

Kin Moto na Bruxelles

Exhibition catalogue. Edited by Bruxelles-Musées-Expositions. Published by Ville de Bruxelles.

2003

Der Rest der Welt

Exhibition catalogue. Pirmasens, Germany.

2002

Titouan, Congo, Kinshasa.

Moke: Peintre reporter de l'urbanité -André Magnin.

Text in French.

Edition Gallimard.

2001

Un Art Populaire

Exhibition catalogue, texts in French.

Cartier Fondation for Contemporary Art.

Edited by Acte Sud, France.

2001

An / Sichten. Malerei aus dem Kongo 1990-2000.

Kinshasa - Kin Kiese by Bogumil Jewsiewicki.

Edition : Springer-Verlag/Wien und Museum für Volkerkunde.

Vienna, Austria.

2001

A History of Art in Africa

Contemporary Urban and International Art, Moke p.408-411.

Edition Prentice Hall/ Abraams.

1996

Contemporary Art of Africa,

Moke p.164-167 by Jacques Soulillou.

Edited by André Magnin and Jacques Soulillou.

Publisher Harry N. Abraams.

1991

Africa Hoy / Africa Now

Exhibition catalogue.

Moke p.169-177.

Atlantic Center of Modern Arte.

Las Palmas Gran Canary, Spain.