The Jean Pigozzi African Art Collection

Romuald Hazoumè

Born 1962, Porto Novo, Benin

Lives and works in Porto Novo, Benin

Romuald Hazoumè, who is of Yoruba origin, grew up in a Catholic family, but remained in contact with the Vodun society of his forbears; this dual cultural heritage finds expression in both his masks and installations. In the mid-1980s, he began an extended series of works made from discarded plastic containers, and in particular from gasoline canisters. After slight modifications, these objects became masks which subtly reveal Hazoumè’s critical vision of political systems. He has said of his work: “I send back to the West that which belongs to them, that is to say, the refuse of consumer society that invades us every day.”

Hazoumè’s masks conform more to the recovery of their materials than to Yoruba traditions; however, there are also important links with this heritage. He has said about his masks that he sees them “exiting” or “departing.” “Exiting” the masks, explains the Mali scholar Youssouf Tata Cissé, means that they “recapitulate all the stages of creation.” For example, one of the most important masks in Bambara rituals is the “Whirlwind” mask. It stands for the primordial whirlwind that governed the emergence of life. Hazoumé’s Zanzibrrrrace (2003) suggests a parallel reading and illustrates how the artist draws on the vocabulary of the initiated to give character to his creations. What distinguishes Hazoumè’s assemblages is that they are also specifically tied to his vision of society and global problems. Unlike the traditional masks which tended to strip the wearer of his personality, Hazoumè’s expose the wearer’s true nature. Indeed, his masks can be understood as a modern reinterpretation of the phenomena of trances, revealing without reserve the madness of current events. Hazoumè has extended these themes in his most recent works, monumental installations which address the history of slavery and the present practices of the black market.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016

Romuald Hazoumè, Gagosian Gallery Paris, France

2015

Art et développement durable, vol. 4 : Romuald Hazoumè, Mobilière Suisse, Bern, Switzerland

2015

Arè, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Benin

2015

Romuald Hazoumè : Dance of Butterflies, Manchester Museum, England

2013

Romuald Hazoumè : Beninese Solidarity with Endangered Westerners, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria

2012

Romuald Hazoumè : Cargoland, October Gallery, London

2011

Romuald Hazoumè, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland

2010

My Paradise - Made in Porto Novo

Gerisch-Stiftung, Neumünster, Germany

2009

Exit Ball, Aliceday, Brussels, Belgium

2009

MADE IN PORTO-NOVO, October Gallery, London, UK

2007

La Bouche du Roi : an artwork by Romuald Hazoumè

The British Museum

London - England

2006

La Bouche du Roi

Musée du quai Branly

Paris - France

2006

Article 14 débrouille-toi, toi-même, World Museum Liverpool, UK

2005

Romuald Hazoumè

Fondation Zinsou

Cotonou - Bénin

2005

Romuald Hazoumè Installation Art

CAISA (City of Helsinki Cultural Office),

Helsinki

2005

La Bouche du Roi (The Mouth of the King)

The Menil Collection,

Houston

2005

October Gallery, London

2002

Romuald Hazoumè

Centre Culturel Français de Turin

Turin, Italy

2000

La Bouche du Roy.

Cotonou, Benin: Centre Culturel Français.

1999

Romuald Hazoumè: Vor-Sicht.

New York: The Project

1998

Breeduit

Apeldoorn, Holland: Van Reekum Museum

1998

Bénin-Bénin, Gisteren-Tussen-Morgen.

Apeldoorn, Holland: Van Reekum Museum

1998

Romuald Hazoumè.

Sydney, Australia: The Art Gallery of New South Wales

1990-1991

Masques Bidons II

National Museum.

Accra, Ghana.

Cultural French Center - Lagos, Nigeria- Bamako, Mali

- Dakar, Sénégal

- Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

K.G. du KunstmuseumBonn, Germany.

Museum der Franziskaner de Werl.

Germany.

1990

Africain Forum

Heidelberg, Germany.

1989

Masques Bidons I Cultural French Center

Cotonou, Benin.

French-Nigerian Cultural Center Niamey, Niger.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020

Christian Louboutin: l'Exhibition[niste], Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, France (02.26 - 07.26 2020)

“Alpha Crucis: African Contemporary Art”, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway (01.31 – 05.17 2020)

2018

57th October Salon, The Marvellous Cacophony, Belgrade City Museum, Serbia

“Festival Kyotographie », Kyoto, Japan

« D'Afrique aux Amériques, Picasso en face-à-face, d'hier à aujourd’hui », Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal (MBAM), Canada

« African Passions », Palais Cadaval, Evora, Portugal

Everyday Africa!, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Benin

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)

2015

Picasso.mania, Grand-Palais, Paris, France

2014/2015

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

2014-2016

Art from elsewhere, International Contemporary Art from UK Galleries

Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow 24 October to 1 February 2015

Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 14 February to 31 May 2015

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima) 19 June to 27 September 2015

Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston 10 October to 28 November 2015

Towner, Eastbourne 23 January to 3 April 2016

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and Arnolfini 22 April to 17 July 2016

2014

Ici l’Afrique/Here Africa - L’Afrique contemporaine à travers le regard de ses artistes, Musée des Suisses dans le Monde,Château de Penthes, Pregny-Chambésy, Switzerland

2014

Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Museu Picasso, Barcelona

2014

BIACI : Biennale Internationale d'Art Contemporain de Carthagène des Indes, Bogotá

2014

MASKS, JGM Galerie, Paris, France

2014

FIAC-OFFICIELLE, Paris, France

2014

1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, England

2013/2014

Initiates, Congo Basin : The masks of Romuald Hazoumé, Musée Dapper, Paris

2013

The Black Whale, MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, Spain

2013

Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Beneath a Petroliferous Moon

2013

Romuald Hazoumè : Beninese Solidarity with Endangered Westerners, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria

2013

WEST TO WEST, Owusu-Ankomah & Friends, Städtische Galerie Bremen, Bremen

2013

Macht. Wahn. Vision, Museum Heilbronn, Heilbronn, Germany

2013

Hommage, Institut Français du Bénin, Cotonou, Benin

2013

1:54, Contemporary African Art fair, London

2013

Art Zuid, International Sculpture Route Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2013

Focus sur la collection, Musée de la Fondation Zinsou, Ouidah, Benin

2013

Material Conceptualism: The Comfort of Things, Anant & Zoo, Berlin

2013

Art Paris Art Fair, Paris, France

2012

African Cosmos: Stellar Arts, National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA

October Gallery, London, UK

2012

The National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, African Cosmos: Stellar Arts

2012

The Progress of Love, The Menil Collection, Houston, USA

2012

We Face Forward, Art from West Africa Today, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK

2012

Afrovision. L’art moderne d’Afrique, Musée d’art moderne, Bakou, Azerbaïdjan

2012

Africa/Africa, Abbaye Saint-André, Centre d’art contemporain, Meymac, France

2012

Sculpture is Everything: Contemporary Works from the Collection, QAGOMA, Brisbane

2012

Moving Into Space: Football and Art in West Africa, National Football Museum, Manchester

2012

At Eye Level: Masterpieces of Medieval and Modern Art, Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany

2011

ARS 11, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland

2011

Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents, Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA

2011

L’Afrique à Paris,with Kura Shomali, Chéri Samba… Galerie Hussenot & Magnin-A, Paris, France

2011

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

2011

Environment and Object - Recent African Art, Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY

2011

Continents, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

2010/2011

The Land Between Us

Whitworth Art Gallery

Manchester, UK

2010/2011

The Global Africa Project

MAD – Museum of Arts and Design,

New York

2010/2011

21st Century: Art in the First Decade, Queensland Art Gallery

Brisbane, Australia

2010

African Stories

Marrakech Art Fair, Marrakech

2009 - 2010

Africa? Una nuova storia

Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy

2010

Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity, The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm, Germany

2010

Art Dubai with October Gallery, Dubai

2010

Joburg Art Fair with October Gallery, Johannesburg

2009

Against Exclusion

3rd biennale of Contemporary Art, The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture

Moscou, Russie

2009

Africa Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy

2009

Bénin 2059, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Republic of Benin

2009

Who’s betting on the 47?” NKV Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany

2008

PetrodollART

Galerie Motte et Rouard

Paris- France

2008

U-TURN, Quadriennial for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark

2008

Angaza Afrika – African Art Now, October Gallery, London

2008

Art Dubai with October Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2008

Joburg Art Fair with October Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2007/2008

Why Africa?

Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli

Turin, Italy

2007

UN / FAIR TRADE

Die Kunst der Gerechtigkeit

Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum

Graz, Austria

2007

Documente 12

Kassel-Germany

2007

Masques rituels et contemporains

Fondation Jean Paul Blachère

Apt - France

2007

Uncomfortable Truths Exhibition

Victoria and Albert Museum

London - England

2007

From Courage to Freedom

El Anatsui/Hazoumé/Owusu-Ankomah

October Gallery

London - England

2007

The Shadow of Slave trading on Contemporary Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum, London,

2006/2007

100% Africa

Guggenheim Museum

Bilbao, Spain

2006

De ida y vuelta. África. Madrid, Spain. La Casa Encendida

2006

«Snap Judgements»: New positions in Contemporary African Photography, International Center of Photography, New York USA. Miami Art Central, Florida, USA

2005/2006

African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection.

Washington DC, U.S.A. National Museum of African Art,

Smithsonian Institution, DC

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

2004 (travelling exhibition)

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

* 15 May 2005 – 20 Aug 2005

Centre Georges Pompidou

Paris – France

* Feb – May 2006

Mori Art Museum

Tokyo

2003

ARMOUR: The fortification of man

Fort Asperen Biennal - Holland

2003

Magic Markers: Objects of Transformation

* Des Moines Art Center

Des Moines, Iowa - USA

* Musée Bellerive

Zurich - Switzerland

* Musée d’ac de

Lausanne – Switzerland

2003

Correspondances Afriques

Iwalewa-Haus

Afrikanzentrum der Universität Bayreuth

Bayreuth - Allemagne

2003

"Alles Abfall?" Recycling im Design

Musée Bellerive

Zurich - Suisse

Musée d’ac de Lausanne

Lausanne - Switzerland

2002

Œil pour œil

Le Rectangle Centre d’Art Contemporain

Lyon - France

2002

African Market

Ivan Dougherty Gallery

University of NSW

Sydney – Australia

2002

40 ans : Fluxus und die Folgen

Wiesbaden – Germany

2001

TRADE

Fotomuseum Winterthur

Winterthur – Switzerland

2001

Lost & Found

New York - USA

2001

XXXVeme Prix International d’Art contemporain de Monte-Carlo

Monaco – France

2001

TRADE

Nederlands Fotos Institut

Roterdam – Holland

2000

Art Basel 2000

Galerie Art & Public

Bâle - Switzerland

2000

This earth is a flower, construction in Process VII

Bydgoszcz – Poland

2000

D’sign

Galerie Dany Keller

Munich – Germany

2000

Dinge in der kunst des XX. Jahrhunderts.

Haus der Kunst

Munich – Germany

2000

Lyon Biennal.

Lyon, France.

2000

Sieben Hügel

Martin-Gropius-Bau

Berlin, Germany.

2000

Kwangju Biennal.

South-Korea.

1999

Liverpool Biennal.

Liverpool, Great-Britain.

1999

Spaceship Earth, Art in General, New York, USA

1999

Paradise 8, Exit Art, New York, USA

1998

7. Triennale der Kleinplastik

Stuttgart, Germany.

1998

The brigge CiPVI

The Bridge

Melbourn, Australia.

1997

Lumière Noire

Tanlay Art Center

Tanlay Castle, France.

1997

Havana Biennal

Havana, Cuba.

1995/1996

An Inside story : African Art of our time

Setagaya Art Museum

Tokyo, Japan.

Tokoshima Modern Art MuseumTokoshima, Japan.

Himeji City Museum of Art

Himeji, Japan.

Koriyama City Museum of Art

Koriyama, Japan.

Marujame Inokuma-Genichiro

Museum of Contemporary Art Japan.

The Museum of Fine Arts

Gufu, Japan.

1995

orientATION - Istanbul Biennal

Istanbul, Turkey.

1995

Africus.

Johannesburg Biennal, South Africa.

1993

Second sight

Northern Center for Contemporary Art.

Sunderland, Great-Britain

Newlyn Orlon Gallery.

Comwall, Great-Britain

The Orchard Gallery.

Dervy, Ireland.

1993

La grande Vérité, les Astres Africains

Nantes Fine Arts Museum, France.

1992

Out of Africa

Saatchi gallery

London, Great-Britain

1990

Night of Art

Helsinki, Finland.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2021

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

2021

Finestre sull' Arte, N°10 - Arte Antica E Contemporanea Giugno Luglio Agosto - Italy. pp.146-159

2019

1-54 New York

Art Africa Ltd. Fair Catalogue p.35

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

Bois Sacré, Exhibition catalogue, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, pgs 28, 34, 36

2014

Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Exhibition catalogue, Museu Picasso, Barcelona, pgs 74-75, 78.

2013

L'art du Large, Jean-Hubert Martin, Flammarion 2013, pages 245-248

2012

Afro, une célébration Katell Pouliquen, Préface d'Oxmo Puccino 176 pages - 17 x 23 cm.

Editions de La Martinière. Paris, Septembre 2012 Broché

2011

ROMUALD HAZOUME Publié à l'occasion de l'exposition Romuald Hazoumè à l'Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin Textes Enrique Juncosa, Sean Kissane, Gerard Houghton, André Magnin

160 pages – English Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin - mars 2011

2011

Astrapi n°749 Bimensuel édité par Bayard Presse

2010

ROMUALD HAZOUME My Paradise - Made in Porto Novo Edited by Herbert-Gerisch-Stiftung, Neumünster, Martin Henatsch Texts by Bartholomäus Grill, Martin Henatsch, Daniela Roth 144 pages - 23.10 x 23.10 cm - German/ English Hatje Cantz, 2010

2010

Contemporary African Photography from the Walther Collection Events of the Self:

Portraiture and Social Identity Edited by Okwui Enwezor

2010

The Global Africa Project

Exhibition catalogue. Published by the Museum of Arts and Design , New York and Prestel Publishing

21st Century: Art in the First Decade, ed. Miranda Wallace, exhibition catalogue, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.

2009

The Global Art World

Edited by Hans Belting & Andrea Buddensieg

2009

Africa? una nuova storia

Exhibition catalogue, published by Gangemi Editore 2008

2009

ANGAZA AFRIKA African Art Now

By Chris Spring, Published by Laurence King Publishing Ltd.

3rd Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art : Against Exclusion, exhibition catalogue, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow

2007

UN/FAIR TRADE, Die Kunst der Gerechtigkeit, Herausgegeben von Christian Eigner/Peter Weibel, Neue Galerie Graz, Published by Springer Wien New York (+ CD Rom)

2007

Art for Aids, UNAIDS

2007

Afrika sunnan Sahara i brennidepli, Ritstjorar Jinina Einarsdottir og Pordis Sigurardottir, catalogue d’exposition, Iceland.

2007

Masques Rituels et Contemporains, Fondation Jean Paul Blachère,

Musée Royal de L’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, catalogue d’exposition.

2007

Documenta Kassel, 16/06 – 23/09 2007, catalogue

Taschen

2006/2007

Africa Remix,

Catalogue d’exposition, Moderna Museet, Stockholm.

2006 Africa Remix,

Catalogue d’exposition, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.

2006

Romuald Hazoumè, la Bouche du Roi

Musée du Quai Branly, Flammarion, Paris. Catalogue d’exposition.

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

Romuald Hazoumè

Exhibition catalogue. Fondation Zinsou.

2005

Romuald Hazoumè : La Bouche du Roi

Exhibition catalogue. The Menil Collection.

2005

Arts of Africa: The Contemporary Collection of Jean Pigozzi

Exhibition catalogue. Published by Skira Edition & Grimaldi Forum Monaco.

2005

African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection

Exhibition catalogue. Published by Merrell.

2004

Africa Remix

Exhibition catalogue. Published by Hatje Cantz.

2003

View on Colour : The colour forecasting book – Issue N° 24 (June)

”Armour”. United Publishers S.A.

2003

Magic makers objet of transformation

Catalogue ; Des moines Art Center

2002

Zeitgenössische Kunst Aus Afrika 14.

Kunster aus Côte d’Ivoire und Benin

Romuald Hazoumè p.144-157 interview

Publication: Bohlau Wien, Editeur: Thomas Fillitz, 408 pages. Texte en Allemand.

2002

40 JAHRE ; Fluxus und die Folgen

Exhibition catalogue. Kunstsommer Wiesbaden 2003

2002

Trade

Waren, wege, und werte im welthandel heute catalogue Fotomuseum Winterthur

2002

œil pour œil

Exhibition catalogue. Le ,rectangle centre d’art contemporain de la ville de Lyon.

2002

Romuald Hazoumè

p.144-157 interview .Publication: Bohlau Wien, Editeur: Thomas Fillitz, 408 pages. Texte en Allemand.

2002

Zeitgenössische Kunst Aus Afrika

14. Kunster aus Côte d’Ivoire und Benin

Romuald Hazoumé p.144-157 interview

Publication: Bohlau Wien, Editeur: Thomas Fillitz, 408 pages. Texte en Allemand.

2001

Facing up to the paste

Page fine Art XXIII texte :Anglais de frits Bless

2001

Dinge in der kunst des XX jahrunderts

Exhibition catalogue. Haus de kunst Mûnchen.

2001

Partage d’Exotisme

Exhibition catalogue for 5ème Biennale de Lyon

2000

The Bridge :Construction in process VI

Exhibition catalogue edited by Richard Thomas

2000

Perspectives sur l’art contemporain Africain

Pages 107-115 texte de JoelleBusca

2000

Sieben hûgel VII

Trâumen page 054 –055 texte en Allemand de Sabine Vogel

2000

Man-space

Exhibition catalogue published for the Kwangju biennale.

1999

Romuald Hazoumè

Océanique, la revue de la coopération française au Bénin.

1999

Romuald hazoumè " Vor Sicht " by Peter Volkwein.

Exhibition catalogue, Städtische Galerien Ingolstadt. Bilingual text: German, French.

1998

7. Triennale der Kleinplastik

Zeitgenössische Skulptur. Exhibition Catalogue

Europa Afrika: Romuald Hazoumè by André Magnin. Text in German.

1998

Benin, Benin Tussen Gisteren Morgen . Romuald Hazoumè by Frits Bless.

Exhibition catalogue, Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn. Text in German.

1997

Sexta Bienal de La Habana el individuo y su memoria

Catalogue AFAA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1996

Contemporary Art of Africa. Romuald Hazoumè by André Magnin, p.132-133.

Edited by André Magnin & Jacques Soulillou. Text in English.

Published by Harry N. Abraams.

1996

An Inside Story : African Art of Our Time.

Romuald hazoumè by Mieko Yoshihara.

Edited by Yukiya Kawaguchi, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo.

Bilingual texts: Japanese, English.

1995

Romuald Hazoumè by André Magnin.

Istanbul 4th Biennal. Text in English.