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FINALIST ELLIPSE PRIZE 2022
Théophany Adoh
Théophany Adoh is musician and multidisciplinary artist born in Abidjan where he lives and works.
Théophany Adoh finalist of the ellipe Prize dedicated to Ivory Coast
During his university studies at INSAAC, Théophany Adoh, aka “le Traxeur”, trained as a photographer, by being interested in the world of urban fashion, where he drew his inspiration from hairstyles.
In West African cultures, hairstyles are a vector of status and personality. Through his “Open locks” series, presented as part of his application for the ellipse Prize, the artist highlights an identity paradox by integrating a multitude of visuals of woven, colored hair or even wigs on subjects sporting dreadlocks.
The identity contrast, between natural and artificial
Between the natural and the artificial, he contrasts the cultural heritage of dreadlocks, once highly valued and now a source of prejudice, with the craze for the fake and the superficial drawn from an exogenous imagination. For Théophany Adoh, these photographs, made up with digital collages, go beyond the aesthetic and practical aspects of the hairstyle: they reflect the growing standardization of African societies, which are shedding their tradition and individuality.
Théophany Adoh has participated to the Grand Prix Guy Nairay organized by the Houkami Guyzagn gallery (Abidjan). He has collaborated with the Swiss collective Klaym whose work was published in the Nice magazine that won him the Swiss Award Design 2018 as well as a participation in the Unseen fair in Amsterdam.
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