Boris Nzebo: Ne Tirez Pas

Private view Tuesday 4 October 2016, 6 - 8 pm

Jack Bell Gallery is pleased to present a new series of paintings by contemporary artist Boris Nzebo. In the artist's fourth solo show with the gallery, he addresses diverse themes of war, violence, politics, corruption and terrorism which continue to plague his local environment. ‘Ne Tirez Pas’ coincides with Nzebo’s current solo exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery, entitled ‘Urban Style’.

Nzebo is noted for making paintings that draw on the surroundings of his hometown Douala, Cameroon's largest city. He uses a strong colour palette that evokes the murals and graffiti of street culture found throughout Douala's suburbs. The works are instantly recognizable - simultaneously personal and universal - and speak a language familiar to Douala's inhabitants.

Nzebo's stylized execution owes a lot to painted haircut signs found outside Cameroon's barber shops. Appropriating the language of advertising, he creates portraits taken from detailed studies of traditional African hairstyles and combines them with informal snapshots of local neighbourhoods, urban architecture and scenes from daily life.

Born 1979, Port-Gentil, Gabon, Nzebo lives and works in Douala, Cameroon. His work has been exhibited in ‘Pangaea: New Art From Africa and Latin America’, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2014, & 'Pangaea II', 2015.