Georges Adéagbo - Beninese Sculptor in Hamburg

In courtesy of SAVVY Contemporary: The conceptual artist Georges Adéagbo was born in 1942 in Cotonou (Benin). He lives and works in Cotonou and Hamburg. After studying law in Abidjan and Rouen, Adéagbo returned to Benin in 1968. Until he was accidentally discovered in 1993 by a European curator, he made daily installations in his yard complex without regarding himself as an artist. In 1999 he participated in the Venice Biennale and was awarded for his installation at the Campo Arsenale. For Okwui Enwezor's Documenta 11 in Kassel 2002,

Adéagbo presented an in-situ installation, which was later acquired in a modified form by the collection of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Adéagbo is one of today's most renowned and prolific artists with works in major collections, e.g. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Toyota City Museum and KIASMA Helsinki. 

Amongst many other international exhibitions, his work has been shown in: 1997 Johannesburg Biennale, 1998 Sao Paolo Biennale, 1999 Venice Biennale, 2000 PS1 New York, 2001 The Short Century by Okwui Enwezor in Museum Villa Stuck Munich, 2002 Documenta 11 Kassel, 2005 Belgique Visionnaire by Harald Szeemann in Bozar Brussels, 2006 Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2008 Palazzo Vecchio Florence, 2009 MAK Vienna, Venice Biennale, 2011 MUSAC Leòn, Kiasma ARS 11 Helsinki, 2012 Paris Triennale, Biennale Regard Benin.

Installationsansicht: George Adéagbo "Betrachtet Geschichte!", 2008 (Foto: Martin Frommhagen) 

 

A documentary film LA PERSONNE DE GEORGES ADÉAGBO on his life, outstandingly gives a bird’s-eye view on the Georges Adéagbo's conceptual artistic practice.The gravity and multifacetedness of Adéagbo’s oeuvre unfolds as the film director Matteo Frittelli takes the viewer on a tour of Adéagbo’s installations from his Cotonou court yard through the Palazzo Vecchio Florence, Venice Biennial 2009 to MADRE Napels. (watchTrailer here: http://vimeo.com/38070805)

LA PERSONNE DE GEORGES ADÉAGBO was premiered at the Paris Triennial in the Palais de Tokyo in 2012, is a revelation and sets a milestone in artist documentary filmmaking. Watch an interview with him at the Viennale: