Georges Adéagbo

Georges Adéagbo (born 1942) is a Beninese sculptor known for his work with found objects.

A native of Cotonou, Adéagbo studied law in Abidjan before moving to France to continue his studies in political science. He returned to Benin in 1971 upon the death of his father, and began creating installations and environments in isolation from family and society. By the early 1990s, he had begun to receive recognition after being accidentally discovered by a French curator who stumbled upon Adeagbo's courtyard. Eventually, years of work culminated in the reception of the Prize of Honor at the Venice Biennal e in 1999, for the "A Story of a Lion" installation project. Adéagbo gathers the material for his art wherever he travels. Today, he primarily resides in Hamburg, Germany and often work in his hometown of Cotonou.



Collections
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (2000 & 2004)

Museum Ludwig Cologne (2003)

Blake Byrne, Los Angeles (1999) ~ donated to L.A. MoCA spring (2005) Galerie Elisabeth Kaufmann, Zurich (2005)

Philadelphia Museum of Art (2006)

Ulmer Museum (2007), Oslo National Museum of Art

Architecture and Design 2009, MAK Vienna (2009)

MUSAC Leon (2011)

KIASMA Helsinki (2011)

GIZ Regional Office Cotonou 2012, Collection Cecile Fakhoury Abidjan (2013)

Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester (2013)

Solo exhibitions
1997

'Death and Resurrection' - Quimper, France

2000

'La rencontre de l'Afrique et du Japon' Toyota Municipal Museum of Art

2004

'The Pythagorean Age' - Gallery of Innsbruck

"The Explorer and the Explorers in the History of Exploration". !-The Theatre of the World.. !' - Museum Ludwig, Köln

'African Socialism' - Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

2007

Everything from Me to All" - Venice, Italy

2008

"The Meeting...!" - Venice, Italy & Florence, Italy

2009

"Colonization and the History of the Colonized" - MAK, Vienna, Austria

2010 "Culture and Cultures – China in Hamburg", - Holzhauer Gallery Hamburg, Germany

2011

"The Mission and the Missionaries" - MUSAC Leon (Spain)

2013 "Once upon a time, Košice: Košice of yesterday, Košice of today..!" Make-Up Galler Košice, Slovakia

Group exhibitions
1996 'Images of Africa' (Les images de l'afrique) "African Art towards the Year 2000" - Round Tower, Copenhagen, Denmark

"The Renaissance (La renaissance)" - Gallery of Agnès B., Paris, France

1998 "Cannibalism" (le canibalisme) "Roteiros, Roteiros, Roteiros" - XXIV Biennale de São Paulo, Brazil

"The Philosophical Schools" (Les Écoles philosophiques) - Trinale der Klein-Plastik, Afrika-Europa", Stuttgart, Germany

1999

('The Story of the Lion') a one-day installation for the Campo dell'Arsenale, June 10: awarded with the 'premio della giuria' (prize of the jury)

"From Colonization to Independence": Installation created to display the traditional art forms and elements of culture regained during the decolonization process. Such project was a combination between a variety of artists, also including representation of Ethiopian and Yoruba culture.

2000

'ForwArt' / the composition of 'La colonisation Belge en Afrique noir' - Brussels, Belgium

'The Resurrection of Edith Piaf' in '"Voilà, the world in your head"' - Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, ARC, France

2001

'Le Socialisme Africain' (African Socialism) - Zurich, Switzerland

2002 "The Explorer and the Explorers in the History of Exploration". "The Theatre of the World.. !" in: Documenta 11 - Kassel, Germany

2004 'In the Bed' in: "In Bed." - Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Aichi, Japan

'God-Creator in Creation' and 'AC/DC Archiv des Museum Ludwig' both in modified versions - The Kaufmann Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland

«La Colonisation Belge en Afrique Noir» - The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, US

2006

"Abraham, God's Friend" - Philadelphia version - The Philadelphia Museum of Art

2007

"Creating the World by Collecting - A Tribute to Christoph Weickmann" in 'Weickmann's Wunderkammer,' Ulmer Museum, Germany

"A Space with the World" in "Beyond the Wall," Stiftung Brandenburger Tor, Max Liebermann Haus - Berlin, Germany

2008

"Ephemeral Fringes" Art Brussels - Brussels, Belgium

"Look at history!" in "See History 2008" - Kunsthalle Kiel

"Intolerance" for the Ravello Festival - Sorento, Italy

2009

"Hypocrisy-The Sitespecifity of Morality"

Oslo National Museum of Contemporary Art, Norway

Fare Mondi" 53rd Venice Biennial, Italy

2010

"Transparancy" Trasparenze, - Napoli, Italy

2011

"ARS 11", Kiasma - Helsinki Finland

"ABSOLUTT INSTALLASJON" National Museum for Art, Architecture and Design - Oslo, Norway

Reinstallation of the work commissioned for the exhibition "Hypocrisy" in 2009.

2012

"Paris Triennial" Palais de Tokyo, curated by Okwui Enwezor - Paris, France

"We Face Forward" - Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester, UK The Storytellers

The Stenersen Museum - Oslo, Norway

Biennale Regard Benin

Porto Novo and Togbin Plage, Benin

2013

"DECOLONIZE MÜNCHEN" at the Stadtmuseum München, Germany "Germany before the war and Germany after the war..!"

2022

"Create to Free Yourselves - President Lincoln's Cottage" : A project centered around transforming and analyzing former President Abraham Lincoln's Washington, D.C., cottage to depict themes of freedom and bondage. The exhibit, taking place at the cottage where Lincoln lived during the Emancipation Proclamation, will re-work the world's image of the historical figure. Working alongside the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, this exhibit will be launched from January 17 to February 15. The exhibit will also have a major focus on intercultural transfer, with artists from Benin preparing the main objects and only assembly taking place at the D.C. Cottage. Adeagbo's artwork will provide a unique glimpse into the role of slavery and of the historical structure itself.

2023

"Create to Free Yourselves - Abraham Lincoln and the History of Freeing Slaves in America" Opening on November 18 and extended throughout 2024, this mixed-media installation will highlight a gallery full of paintings, sculptures, found objects and hand-written personal reflections which express Adeagbo's perception of Lincoln as a human. Different iterations of this mixed-media installation are available to be seen through the Smithsonian National Museum of Art History and specifically the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

2024

"Ein neues Werk für die Hamburger Kunsthalle" (which translates like "A new Work for the Hamburger Kunsthalle")