Georges Adéagbo

* 1942 in Cotonou, Benin
lives in Cotonou and Hamburg, Germany

Georges Adéagbo describes himself as an African ethnologist, collector and tracker. His assemblages correspond to a non-hierarchical arrangement of things in the juxtaposition of high and low, African and Western culture, kitsch and philosophy. In the juxtaposition of different objects, he refers to the traces of the colonial past, as well as media phenomena and contemporary racism. At the same time, he reflects, not without irony, on being an artist as such, on the art market and his own identity as an African artist. In 1999, Adéagbo was the first African artist to be awarded the jury prize at the Venice Biennale. His work is represented in international exhibitions, e.g. at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the MAK in Vienna and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Adéagbo participated in documenta 11 and the biennials in Johannesburg, São Paulo and Dakar.