Raoul Komlagan TEKOU

Criticism

It goes without saying that the arts keep up with globalisation, and if Southeast Asia is at times overly committed to rehashing impressionistic themes, Africa does not cease to reveal interesting artists who have been able to preserve all the specific flavor of their continent. And Raoul Tekou from Togo is one such artist. Although he is a computer engineer and has lived in France for over ten years, he is very implicated in conveying through painting the written and spoken word, as well as the poetic ancestral traditions from his griot parents, which he does with cheerfulness as the common denominator. With this in view, he travelled the whole of Africa before coming to Europe and creating storytelling shows and painting workshops. Modestly, but also with the efficiency that his knowledge of his art entails, Raoul Tekou confers his painting with a very rich naivety. In his expressions of picturesque beauty, he brings to life well-targeted characters and ideas from Africa’s tradition and ways of life, which are in turn defined in bright and optimistic colours. His quivering brushstroke flouts technique in order to better capture symbolic, mysterious and watchful strains, giving rise to a fairylike poetry that vies with the splendor of the joyous folklore.

André RUELLAN, art critic

Exhibitions

Du 11/03/2014 au 29/03/2014 : HENDAYE : EXPOSITION REGARDS ARTISTIQUES : RAOUL KOMLAGAN TEKOU

Du 14/09/2013 au 15/09/2013 : SAINT JEAN DE LUZ : ARTHA, 11ème RENCONTRE ARTISTIQUE AUTOUR DE LA BAIE

Du 01/08/2013 au 30/09/2013 : BAYONNE : EXPOSITION DES PEINTURES DE RAOUL TEKOU AU NOON CAFE

Du 12/10/2013 au 13/10/2013 : BIARRITZ: 16ème EXPOSITION ARTISTIQUE "LE BROUILLARTA" SUR LA GRANDE PLAGE