#cherisamba

Known for his playful, brightly-colored, graphic paintings with a political message, Chéri Samba is one of the most visible Contemporary African artists on the market today. His goal, as expressed, is to make people think critically about the world around them, and his topics range from the impact of colonialism to what it means to be a successful artist. Samba’s work has been included in basically every turning-point exhibition that is considered part of the genre’s history. His paintings have also been featured - and highly publicized - in every single one of the Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary African art sales since they began in 2017. He exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2007, and is represented in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions like MoMA and the Centre Pompidou.  Through this blog entry, I aim to introduce the reader to Samba and his unique paintings, providing context that will help hopefully encourage him or her to explore further.

Born in Kinto M’Vuila, a small village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Samba came of age in a pivotal moment for his country. In the 1960s, the DRC was liberated from its Belgian colonial rule - known to be among the most violent and oppressive - and entered into a new era with “music, bars and cars” as it became an independent state. Eventually, the DRC’s economy crashed and became entangled in poverty, but the time in which Samba began to paint for a local audience (the 1970s) was one characterized by optimism and great political change. Through his artwork, Samba has set out to portray the everyday realities of Congolese life from the late 20th century up until the present day. Topics have included the involvement of youth in violence and corruption (ex. Little Kadogo, I am for Peace, That is Why I Like Weapons, 2004), as well as the prosperity of the upper-class (ex. Un Vie non Ratée (A Successful Life), 1995).

Samba has shown an interest in dilemmas that go beyond the borders of his home country and that affect us globally as well. The painting Probléme d’Eau (Water Problem), 2004 takes the international water crisis as its main theme, showing his intention to use his art to serve a purpose, or at the very least, make a political statement. Speaking about the difficulty accessing clean drinking water in Africa, Samba has said: “It’s a ridiculous problem. Why don’t the Americans help African governments to put a water tap in every home? It might be expensive, but I wonder, how much are they spending on missions to find out if there is water on Mars?” With this painting, Samba illustrates what he finds to be the absurdity of forgoing the needs of our own species in order to look for life (or evidence of life in the form of water) on other planets.

Chéri Samba, Probléme d’Eau, 2004. Acrylic on canvas. Source: http://art-for-the-world.blogspot.com/2016/05/world-water-joy-project-participating_48.html. 

Samba’s personal life plays an important role as well in the understanding of his works because many of his later works, from the late 1980s onwards, take this topic as their main theme or focal point. Samba always knew he wanted to be an artist, even from when he was a young child drawing pictures in the sand in Kinto M’Vuila. In primary school, Samba was known as the best artist, and he even sold his drawings to friends. Worried that he might not be able to make enough money off his drawings, Samba turned to painting by the time that he got to secondary school in hopes that it would lead him to a real career. One of Samba’s paintings was taken on tour with the school’s soccer team and received a huge positive reaction. Looking at the painting, Samba realized he needed to get out of his small village and pursue his artistic talent seriously.

Samba’s father, however, was not supportive of his son’s talent for art. Instead, he wanted his eldest son to stay home in the village and take care of the family farm. Samba’s struggle with his father to feel support for his artistic career plays a major role in the artist’s personal history, and has served as the inspiration for some of Samba’s paintings. In Le pardon libére, 2015, we see flames burst from Samba’s heart, as he dreams of following his love for creating art. Samba’s father stands with his back facing his son, representative of his dismissiveness regarding his son’s dream. Knowing that Samba was one of ten children, and the oldest male child, we might have some sympathy with his father, who was paying money for his son to get an education in order to help his family’s business.

Chéri Samba, Le pardon libére, 2015. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0loCX-b8hGQ. 

At age sixteen, Samba decided that it was time to follow his heart, even without his father’s support, and left for Kinshasa in 1972. Carrying with him a burning appetite for success and recognition of his talents, Samba arrived in the city and used his existing skills to land a job in a sign painter’s studio where he produced billboards and advertisements for local clientele. Three years later, at age 19, Samba opened up his own sign painting studio and also began drawing cartoons for Congolese entertainment magazine called Bilenge Info. The same year, Samba experimented with painting on sacking cloth, canvas being too expensive, and showing his work on the street. At first, people would pass by and not really notice his artworks. To captivate the attention of the Kinois who passed by, Samba began using text in his paintings, incorporating speech bubbles and narrative lines usually written in French or Lingala (one of the four DRC languages).

His paintings became popular with an intentional audience when Samba participated in the exhibition Les Magiciens de la Terre in Paris in 1989. Following the show, collector Jean Pigozzi began acquiring works by the artists featured in the show, including Samba- whom has since achieved international fame within the Contemporary African art world. In 2004, the artist landed a solo show (J’aime Chéri Samba) at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris, and was featured in another show there in 2015-2016 (Beauté Congo 1926-2015). Formal exhibition catalogues were produced for both shows, and although written in French (and therefore not accessible to everyone interested in researching the artist), they provide a valuable record of Samba and his work. The catalogue for Beauté Congo 1926-2015 is available in major art research libraries like the Watson Library at the Met and the MoMA library.

One of the most well-known (or at least visible in terms of the Contemporary African art market) Samba works is titled J’aime La Couleur (I Like Color), of which the artist made many versions. The artist himself is shown in the center of the composition, holding a paintbrush dripping with different colored droplets. The central figure is also slightly surrealist, as his skin is unfolding into a staircase-like form into the sky. Different versions of the work have come up at auction fifteen times. Perhaps the work is so popular because color is one of the signature marks of Samba’s paintings, and here he declares his love for color - matching his personal philosophy with his artistic style. Discussing the work, Samba explains: “Colour is everywhere. To me, colour is life. Our heads must twirl around as if in a spiral to realise that everything around us is nothing but colours. So I say 'I like colour' instead of saying 'I like painting'. Colour is the universe, the universe is life, painting is life."

Chéri Samba, J’aime La Couleur, 2005. Source: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/modern-contemporary-african-art-l18801/lot.82.html.  

Chéri Samba in his studio, Kinshasa, 2003. Source: Les Initiés: un choix d’oeuvres (1989-2009) dans la collection d’art contemporain africain de Jean Pigozzi, Fondation Louis Vuitton, 2017.

My personal favorite Samba work is one in which he displays his signature whimsical, almost surrealist, tendency in full-force in order to relay his message. The work is called Le secret d’un petit poisson devenu grand (The secret of a small fish grown up), painted in 2002. The purpose of the painting is to instruct young artists on how to achieve success. Seeing himself as a role model, Samba has said that he hopes to inspire the next generation of African painters.

Chéri Samba, Le secret d’un petit poisson devenu grand (The secret of a small fish grown up), 2002, Oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm. Source: http://www.pascalpolar.be/site/artisteview.php?nom_de_tri=Ch%E9ri%20Samba. 

In the work, the little fish becomes big because he has a “secret,” and that is listening to everybody, but ultimately making his own decisions with his heart. For this reason, the anatomical heart fills the largest ear present on the man-fish figure, symbolizing that among all the voices that we hear, the one of our hearts is the most important.  If no one is criticizing you, Samba explains, then it means that no one cares about you. In fact, this kind of exposure is even more important for African artists, Samba believes, because Africans should be proud of what they do. Before the exhibition Magicians de la Terre, Samba believes that people in the international art world did not believe that Africans could make art in a contemporary style.

Still working and making art, Samba splits his time between Kinshasa and Paris, and is represented by Galerie Pascal Polar in Brussels, Belgium. In terms of what Samba has been up to recently, his works were shown at The Fondation Louis Vuitton in 2017 as part of the exhibition Art/Afrique, le Nouvel Atelier, which featured works from the Pigozzi collection. Gallery Magnin-A, based in Paris, showed Samba’s work at 1-54 Contemporary African Art fair in London in 2017. Sotheby’s sold four of his paintings in their Modern & Contemporary African Art auction in May 2017, five in their March 2018 auction, and seven in their October 2018 auction. Concurrent to the inaugural edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in Marrakech, Samba’s work was shown in an exhibition at the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) in February 2018. In the summer of 2018, his paintings were shown at the Evora Africa festival in Portugal and at the University of Michigan. Who knows what’s next on the horizon for this Contemporary African art star? We can only stay tuned into ContemporaryAfricanArtUnframed.tumblr.com to find out.

Photo at top: Chéri Samba, Paris, France, March 13, 2013 in his Paris workshop.  © Antoine Doyen. Source: https://antoinedoyen.photoshelter.com/image/I0000ikhRfWbsesE

Bibliography:

Abramowitz, Eden. “Chéri Samba and Congolese Popular Painting.” Sotheby’s. September 1, 2017. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/cheri-samba-and-congolese-popular-painting.

Art for The World. “World Water Joy: A Work in Progress- Participating Artist - Chéri Samba.” May 26, 2016. Accessed November 4, 2018. http://art-for-the world.blogspot.com/2016/05/world-water-joy-project-participating_48.html.

Artnet. “Chéri Samba, I Like Color - search results.” Accessed November 8, 2018. http://www.artnet.com/pdb/faadsearch/FAADResults3.aspx?Page=1&ArtType=FineArt.

ArtReview. “Chéri Samba- Congo’s Hogarth.” June 2007. Accessed November 4, 2018. http://www.fredrobarts.com/articles.html.   

Bonhams. “Lot 19: Chéri Samba: J’aime la couleur.” Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23091/lot/19/.

“Chéri Samba.” In Luminós/City.Ordinary Joy, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014. Exhibition catalogue.

Crichton-Miller, Emma. “Congolese art at Fondation Cartier.” Financial Times. August 7, 2015. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.ft.com/content/d7bf402e-3a92-11e5-bbd1-b37bc06f590c.

Culture Trip. “Chéri Samba: The Art of Telling the Truth.” January 29, 2016. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://theculturetrip.com/africa/dr-congo/articles/cheri-samba-the- art-of-telling-the-truth/.

Da Silva, José. “‘Global’ contemporary African art comes to rural Portugal - despite growing visa issues for artists travelling to Europe.” The Art Newspaper. May 30, 2018. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/new-festival-evora-africa-brings-global-contemporary-african-art-to-rural-portugal.  

Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. “Paris hosts first ever retrospective of art from Democratic Republic of the Congo.” The Guardian. July 10, 2015. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jul/10/democratic-republic-of-the-congo-art-paris-fondation-cartier.

Fondation Louis Vuitton. “Sweet Samba.” Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/fr/collection/artists/cheri-samba.html.

Galerie Pascal Polar. “Chéri Samba.” Accessed November 4, 2018.http://www.pascalpolar.be/Polaruserfiles/file/about/polar/samba/Cheri-SAMBA%20BIO.pdf.  

Hawkins, Sydney. “U-M exhibition challenges traditional understanding of African arts and cultures.” University of Michigan News. August 8, 2018. Accessed November 4, 2018.  https://news.umich.edu/u-m-exhibition-challenges-traditional-understanding-of-african-arts-and-cultures/.

LVMH. “‘Art/Afrique, le Nouvel Atelier’ at Fondation Louis Vuitton showcases African art.” April 26, 2017. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.lvmh.com/news-documents/news/artafrique-le-nouvel-atelier-at-fondation-louis-vuitton-showcases-african-art/.  

Magnin-A. “Chéri Samba.” Accessed November 4, 2018. http://www.magnin-a.com/en/artistes/presentation/864/cheri-samba.

Magnin, André, Fondation Cartier. Beauté Congo: 1926-2015. Paris: Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2015.  

Ochieng, Akinyi. “5 Works of Art You Need to See at 1:54 Contemporary African Fair London 2017.” OkayAfrica. October 6, 2017. Accessed November 4, 2018. http://www.okayafrica.com/5-works-art-need-to-see-1-54-contemporary-african-fair-london-2017/.   

Orosz, Peter. “Kicking it with the cool kids of 1950s Kinshasa.” Jalopnik. November 29, 2011. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://jalopnik.com/5863413/kicking-it-with-the-cool-kids-of-1950s-kinshasa.   

Piasa. “The contemporary art of Chéri Samba.” April 18, 2018. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.piasa.fr/en/news/actualite-art-contemporain-cheri-samba.

Sesay, Nadia. “1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair Landing in Marrakech is 2018’s Most Anticipated Art Event.” OkayAfrica. February 23, 2018. Accessed November 4, 2018.  http://www.okayafrica.com/1-54-contemporary-african-art-fair-lands-in-marrakech/.  

Sotheby’s. “Chéri Samba: Une Vie non Ratée (A Successful Life).” Accessed November 4, 2018. http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/modern-contemporary-african-l17801/lot.2.html.    

Sotheby’s. “Results for ‘chéri samba.’” Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.sothebys.com/en/searchresults.html?query=cheri%20samba&refinementList%5Bdepartments%5D%5B0%5D=African%20Modern%20%26%20Contemporary%20Art.  

We Are Our Choices. “CHÉRI SAMBA 1/3 - Congo Imagination.” YouTube Video, 8:01. May 10, 2017. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLiFbXVhb3POVGoJ6OD1ZitKuBO97947eP&v0loCX-b8hGQ.

We Are Our Choices. “CHÉRI SAMBA 3/3 - From Africa to the World.” YouTube Video. 7:25, May 17, 2017. Accessed November 4, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQrwhAcJEMg.