A Yoruba Gelede mask, by Kifouli Dossou, Benin, of an elongated head with coiffure pulled back to a ponytail with many twists falling from it; the face half smiling with large eyes that have small holes punctured in them, small nose and small mouth and small ears that sit lower than usual, the face with scarification marks on the cheeks and forehead; inside the mask is a signature of the artist.

Kifouli Dossou, comes from a family of mask craftsmen-sculptors. His father Tidjani is a sculptor of small statuettes for vodoun ceremonies and his big brother Amidou Dossou is also a sculptor1. From the age of 10, Kifouli began sculpting Gélédé masks. Kifouli handles wood, to produce Gélédé masks, he draws his inspiration from the depths of Fon & Yorùba cultural ideologies.
He was born in 1978 and was primarily inspired by the 1980s. The 1980s were an era of increasing global capitalism, political upheaval, worldwide mass media, wealth discrepancies and distinctive music and fashion, characterised by hip hop and electronic pop music. This had a strong impact on the generation of artists growing up during this time. The fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the 1980s marked the end of the Cold War, yet the era was also marked by the African Famine. During this time prominent art movements included Neo Geo, The Pictures Generation and Neo-Expressionism, which took a strong hold in Germany, France and Italy. Artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel were primary artists working during this period, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, who established the street art and graffiti movements, which quickly gained an influential reputation.

Le Monde, The sculptor Beninois Kifouli Dossou renonce au prix Orisha Launched in 2014, the prize récompense tous les deux and an artiste du continent Africain.

More info: Galerie Vallois, Paris 

List of Exhibitions 

Ex Africa

2021 : Visions d’Afrique, Brest, France.

2021 : Gèlèdè, Maison Rouge, Cotonou, Bénin.

2019 : Trait d’union, Paris, France, 2018, «Foultitude », Dakar, Sénégal.

2018 : Bénin, L’art roi, Art-cade, Marseille, France5.

2017 : Stop ma pa ta (ma matière première n’est pas ta matière), Villa Arson, Nice, France.

2016 : Art Fair Paris, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.

2015 : Primi nel mezzo, Ebano Gallery, Milan, Italie.

2015 : Folk art africain ?, Bordeaux, France.

2015 : Véhicules, Musée International des Arts Modestes, Sète, France.

2013 : Exposition collective, Galerie Les Naufragés du temps, Saint-Malo, France.

2007 : Exposition collective, Musée Afro-Brasil de SaoPaulo, SaoPaulo, Brésil.

Kifouli Dossou is a Beninese Postwar & Contemporary sculptor. featured Kifouli Dossou's work in the past. Kifouli Dossou's work has been offered at auction multiple times. Among the artist's sold works is ", which realized 4,889 USD at in 2019.

sold

Height: 24 cm
Weight: 1,7 kg (incl. stand)