Pascale Marthine Tayou: BOOMERANG

Serpentine Sackler Gallery

Serpentine Galleries presents the first solo show in London by Cameroon-born, Belgium-based artist Pascale Marthine Tayou. The exhibition will include new work made specifically for the Serpentine and introduces audiences to a range of works that demonstrate the artist’s unique ability to combine issues of individual and national identity and global consumption.

The exhibition, his first in the UK since 2008, will see the Serpentine Sackler Gallery populated by a diverse mix of sculptural forms that demonstrate Tayou’s unique visual language based on archetypes, made and found objects and traditional craft. Mysterious human forms and fantastical beasts – such as the 100 metre snake of Africonda – incorporate materials such as cloth, wood, plastic, glass, organic matter and consumer waste combined with an artisanal skill. Tayou, who began studying law before deciding instead to become an artist, began exhibiting in the early 1990s – a time of political and social upheaval across West Africa. With works often produced in situ, Tayou is renowned for combining found and discarded objects and materials – often sourced locally – with a skilled and playful sense of craftsmanship.

Tayou has exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Fowler Museum at UCLA (2014); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2014); MACRO, Rome (2012); MUDAM Luxembourg (2011); Mac Lyon (2011); Malmö Konsthall (2010).

This exhibition at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery is part of the Serpentine’s Spring Programme, which includes a major survey by American artist Leon Golub that runs concurrently at the Serpentine Gallery.

Born in Nkongsamba 1966, Pascale Marthine Tayou is a self-taught artist who lives and works in Ghent, Belgium and in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Recent solo exhibitions include the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, USA (2014); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2014); Galerie Cécile Fakhoury, Abidjan, Cameroon (2014); MACRO, Rome, Italy (2012); Le Chemin Lumineux, Lille, France (2012); Pavillon Paul-Delouvrier, Parc de la Villette, Paris, France (2012); Gare Saint Lazare, Paris, France (2012); Castello di Ama, Ama, Italy (2012); MUDAM LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg (2011); Galleria Continua / Le Moulin Boissy-le-Châtel, France (2011); REVURE NOIR Expressions Contemporaines d'Afrique et du Monde Paris, France (2011); Mac Lyon, France (2011); Galleria Continua / San Gimignano, Italy (2010); Goethe on Main, Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, South Africa (2010); Gare Saint Sauveur, lille3000, Lille, France (2010); Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden (2010); International Film Festival, Rotterdam, Nederlands (2010).