Barthélémy Toguo

Barthélémy Toguo was born in 1967 in Mbalmayo, Cameroon, and lives and works between Paris and Bandjoun in the West Region of Cameroon. One of the most internationally recognized artists of his generation from Central Africa, Toguo has developed a multidisciplinary practice encompassing sculpture, watercolor, performance, video, and installation that addresses questions of migration, power, the body, and the relationship between Africa and the world. He is also the founder of Bandjoun Station, a cultural center in western Cameroon that provides residencies and educational programming for artists from across Africa and beyond.

Central to Toguo's practice is a sustained attention to the body as a site of inscription and transformation. His large-scale watercolors — densely worked and figuratively charged — explore the vulnerabilities and resiliences of human beings caught in the flows of globalization, displacement, and institutional power. His sculptures draw on a range of materials including carved wood, found objects, and repurposed domestic items, producing works that carry a theatrical intensity and that engage with the rituals of travel, border-crossing, and cultural encounter.

Toguo has exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Documenta, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and at institutions across five continents. His work is held in the collections of the Centre Pompidou and the Tate Modern, among others. He is represented by Lelong & Co. in Paris and New York.