Dominique Zinkpe

Major Painter From Bénin • Born in 1969

Born in 1969 in Cotonou, Zinkpè is a self-taught, versatile artist who creates drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations. Generous with his knowledge, more than 10 years ago he founded the association ‘Ayïzo - Oeuvre de l'esprit’, which recently opened ‘Unik-lieu de création contemporaine’, a space aimed at professionalising and promoting contemporary artists. He also chairs the Consortium, which is responsible for organising the 2012 Benin Biennial. Zinkpè works with a wide variety of materials, including hessian, disused cars and hôhô figurines, traditionally used to worship twins in southern Benin. His protean work tackles subjects such as intimacy, sex, the sacred and the profane, and links ancestral cultures with the contradictions of today's world.