Modern and Contemporary African Art: A Collaborative Vanderbilt Student Research Project

Chéri Samba

In this short cameo, Cheri Samba discusses his travel book about Paris. Although the book's content are not as politically charged as some of his more famous or familiar works, it is important to understand what Samba sees in Paris and how he decides to visually represent the city. His familiar style is evident in the colorful and expressive images shown here. Chéri Samba now lives in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo and spends time in Paris as well.
 

Short Biography

Samba was born in Kinto M'Vuila, Congo in 1956 as one of ten children to a blacksmith and farmer. He left home at 16 years old to become a sign painter in the country's capital and opened his first studio in 1975. Samba picked up his comic-like combination of text and image from his work as a sign painter and as an illustrator at a local magazine. Samba began working for a European market starting in 1978. 

Samba's work has been showcased in countless exhibitions and museums, including Les Magiciens de la Terre, the 2007 Venice Biennale, Museum of Modern Art in New York, where his work Condemnation without Judgment  is exhibited, and the African Contemporary Art Gallery in Lisbon, where his piece Le Monde Vomissant is housed.
 

Chéri Samba's Role in African Art History

Samba's work can be characterized as popular art, in part due to the familiar text on image element and comic-like quality evident in most of his pieces. Known as "art by the people, for the people", popular art, like Samba's, can be loaded with political and social messages. Self-dubbed as an "Artiste Populaire", Samba incorporates stories, symbols, and messages into his works that truly resonate with his African and Western audiences while also including elements that are deeply personal. 

Samba has been quoted saying, "My painting is concerned with people's lives. I'm not interested in myths or beliefs. That's not my goal. I want to change our mentality that keeps us isolated from the world. I appeal to people's consciences. Artists must make people think." By placing himself at the center of most of his works, Samba utilizes his own body as a vehicle to start discussion about the hard topics: racism, AIDS, inequality, modernity, to name a few. In addition, he displays himself in order to show that success is possible, although difficult. Many of his works, like Condemnation without Judgment, simultaneously offer both sides to the story of artistic success in modern Africa.''

Possible tags: Congo, popular art, flour sack painting, social commentary

"CHÉRI SAMBA." Cheri Samba. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. <http://www.cherisamba.net/>.

"Chéri SAMBA, 1956." African Contemporary. Contemporary African Art Gallery. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
 

This page references: