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Bodys Isek Kingelez

Born 1948, Kimbembele Ihunga (Belgian Congo)
Died 2015, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Bodys Isek Kingelez, Kinshasa, 2012

Bodys Isek Kingelez is a Congolese artist who creates utopian models of cities out of cardboard, paper and plastic, which he referred to as “extreme maquettes”.

His first maquette was created in 1979 with salvage materials and its originality and precise execution attracted the attention of a museum in Kinshasa. From 1985 onwards, he gave up his career as a teacher to dedicate himself completely to his artistic practice. Kingelez developed a style that was futuristic but also poetic, creating a political oeuvre inspired by the tentacular and anarchic metropolis that is Kinshasa. He was inspired by a wide range of styles: classical, Gothic, Egyptian, Arab, Renaissance, modern, postmodern, etc. As of 1990, he was producing entire cities, made up of assemblages of colourful maquettes with complex structures.

In 1995, the Fondation Cartier presented a solo exhibition of Kingelez's work in the newly-inaugurated spaces in the Jean Nouvel building on Boulevard Raspail, which presented his oeuvre to French and European publics. Over the course of the years, the artist allowed the Fondation Cartier to acquire some of his major works for its collection, including the famous Kinshasa: Project for the Third Millennium (1997) which remains, to this day, his most complex work. In 2015, the exhibition Beauté Congo, Congo Kitoko 1926–2015, presented at the Fondation Cartier, enabled the public to reconnect with the work of this immensely talented artist.

Events

  • Machine d'architecture Bodys Isek Kingelez Projet pour le Kinshasa du troisième millénaire 1997 2
    • Paris
    • Exhibition
    • Wed 21 Jun → Sat 09 Sep 1995
    • Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain
  • Vue de l'exposition Beauté Congo 1926 2015 Congo Kitoko 2015
    • Paris
    • Exhibition
    • Sat 11 Jul 2015 → Sun 10 Jan 2016
    • Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain

Publications