BIO

Born Francis Nicaise Tchiakpe, Tchif shares the idea of Kandinsky about abstract art: ''Shape is the outer expression of the inner content''.

A self taught artist, Tchif took part in many exhibitions and has been invited worldwide to present his work (Brasil, Holland, France, Germany, Belgium, Portuga). The National Museum of Africa Art (Smithsonian) in Washington, selected him for the ''Earth Matters - Contemporary African Art" exhibition.

Tchif has always been painting. He throws himself into creation in an instinctive, emotional, sensual way. His hand is his favorite tool. Although matter and colour are at the heart of his paintings, he is not limited to this technique.

Tchif 's paintings, very colorful, make you feel like flying above some ancient landscapes, as if an archaeologist where some traces are like memories of successive stays on earth. Tchif gives us his spiritual vision of man's wandering on Earth, the existential search worn by initiatory steps along the course of his life. His paintings give us an universal vision of the world.

In his installations, Tchif surprises by hanging a car in a tree, as a self criticism concerning material possessions, he shows himself as a football player, he transforms and adds a personnal touch to the dictators of the world and modifies Obama's image. He likes looking at society with criticism and irony. He says ''I'm a citizen artist of the world...''

source: tchif.com