Galerie Lelong presents "Roots", an original series of fifteen new linocuts joined by wooden bas-reliefs from the "Bilongue" series (2015).
The linocuts, which combine mutant figures and plant motifs, explore the relationship between humans and nature in a tension that is at once dreamlike and organic. In their graphic treatment, they evoke the artist's monumental stamps: the same economy of means, the same strength of line, where each imprint becomes a symbolic act of narration and engagement.
Echoing these new prints, a number of pieces from the "Bilongue" series complete the exhibition. These wooden bas-reliefs, with their raw materiality and incisive motifs, continue a reflection on the dynamics between collective memory and personal narrative. The result of a project initiated by Toguo in 2015 with certain residents of the eponymous suburb of Douala in Cameroon, "Bilongue" pays tribute to these people through a gallery of portraits that commemorates their lives and their struggles. Presented together, these two series explore the idea of the imprint – whether printed or sculpted – in a setting where tradition and experimentation come together to question the links between the body, nature and history.
Barthélémy Toguo was born in Mbalmayo, Cameroon, in 1967. Although he settled in Europe, becoming a French citizen, he has remained deeply rooted in Cameroon, to which he regularly returns. There, he created Bandjoun Station, a foundation opened in 2013, designed to accommodate artists and researchers from all over the world in residence, in studio-flats, to develop proposals in line with the local community. Toguo's art has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years. Today, his works can be found in the collections of a number of major private and public institutions in the UK, Europe and the USA. He is the guest artist at the Musée de la BnF (Paris) for the 2024-2025 season.
"Roots" is the seventh exhibition devoted to Barthélémy Toguo by Galerie Lelong since 2010, following "The Lost Dogs' Orchestra" (Paris, 2010), "Hidden Faces" (Paris, 2013), "Strange Fruit" (Paris, 2017), "Urban Requiem" (New York, 2019), "Partages" (Paris, 2021) and "Water is a Right" (Paris, 2023).
