Salifou Lindou

BORN IN 1965, SALIFOU LINDOU LIVES AND WORKS IN DOUALA.

This member of Kapsiki circle grew up in Foumban, known as “the city of art” by many. Since his childhood, the masks and statues of artisans and of the palace museum has been his daily life. He started creating very early, and today he is one of the most recognized Cameroonian artists on the national and international art scene.

The artworks of Salifou Lindou are a mix of materials "I have the art of manipulating things, I like to tinker". Tireless researcher, Salifou shapes, structures and deconstructs metal sheets, leather, steel, paper, etc. He is constantly experimenting with new elements to make the most of them.

At first glance, one might think that the work of this artist runs counter to current contemporary art trends. At a time where many artists are coming back to figuration or hyperrealism, this artist seeks the perfect mastery of the abstraction of his subjects. “Like a kid” as he says, Salifou expresses the need to manipulate forms, to explore materials and finally to invent scenes.

This ability to shape the lines, positioning eyes, mouth, nose and any other part of the body of his characters at the right place without calculation, highlights his perfect mastery of drawing and the expression of the freedom that emanates from him. In this game, which is ultimately artistic creation, everything is allowed to Salifou: the artist, playing with a heap of lines, leads them to express themselves only for themselves to represent characters who are indifferent to reality.

During this manipulation, this do-it-yourself, the artist ends up touching the secret and the mystery of life. Life, our life, is a game, but a vicious one. His works, in a mixture of media (drawing, painting, collages, etc) tells us of its complexity. Salifou makes abstract forms and complex figures play together. This complexity is possible to see through brown lines that intertwine to form atypical characters on which he sticks elements, which become stigmata. We can also see labyrinthine lines, the labyrinth of life, a life in which the Man who is at the center of Salifou's work, must fight, bet, and win or lose like in a casino. The life of a human being is daily rotating around this fight and this game of perpetual strategies. His drawings show strong but fragile silhouettes at the same time, in chaotic worlds where man releases his impulses, conjures his anguish and unloads his aggressiveness. Through Lindou's work, we can confirm it again: artistic creation and life would have a common origin and trajectory.

Ruth Belinga, Art Historian