Jean David Nkot

JEAN DAVID NKOT WAS BORN IN 1989 IN DOUALA, CAMEROON, WHERE HE LIVES AND WORKS.

A graduate of the Institut de Formation Artistique of Mbalmayo (IFA) and later of the Institut des Beaux-Arts of Foumban, Cameroon, he quickly established himself through his mastery of painting, sculpture, and installation. In 2017, he took part in the “Post-Master Moving Frontiers” program at the École nationale supérieure d’art in Paris-Cergy, France.

A painter of the human condition, he develops a realistic approach attentive to the scars left by history and to the logics of globalized capitalism. Since 2020, his work has focused on the exploitation of raw materials in Africa—such as cotton, chocolate, and minerals—and on the impact of these extractive systems, both on societies and on the environment. His compositions, drawing from photographic archives, question the role of these resources in the global economy and reveal their social and ecological consequences, from Africa to the rest of the world.

Increasingly exploring varied mediums such as ceramics, sculpture, and installation, Nkot pursues an artistic practice aimed at making these shadow workers visible, transforming them into emblematic figures. Between memory and contemporaneity, his work highlights the fractures of industrialization and invites reflection on the relationship between humankind, consumption, and the environment.

Jean David Nkot’s work has been showcased at international fairs in Miami, New York, London, Paris, Marrakech, Cape Town, as well as in institutions such as the Guangdong Times Museum (China), the Institut des Cultures d’Islam (France), SAVVY Contemporary (Germany), and Kunsthalle Krems (Austria). His works have entered prestigious private and public collections, including FRAC Sud, Fondation H, Fondation Blachère, Fondation Almas, and the Amir Shariat Collection.

His last solo exhibition Théâtre des corps, drame de la matière curated by Christine Eyene was presented at AFIKARIS, Paris in 2025. The gallery will present a solo exhibition of the artist at the Art Brussels fair (Belgium) in April 2026, unveiling a new series of works.

From June 11th to July 16th, we are pleased to host Les pommes de la discorde - Jean David Nkot's second major solo show in France. This new body of work is anchored in the artist's interest in ore extraction – which gave place to a solo show in 2021 (Human@Condition, 29 May – 7 July 2021) – and marks a technical progression in his work.

Jean David Nkot’s work puts forward the invisible figures of the market economy. He recalls the fight between bodies over the territory. If he dedicates his large-scaled portraits to representing those whose work serves a consumption society with endless needs, the Cameroonian artist extends his research on ore extraction started in 2020 and leads a scientific work inspired by an archaeological approach. Whilst archaeology focuses on dead bodies and items from past civilisations buried underground, Jean David Nkot conducts what he callsarchéologie des corps (archeology of the bodies). Doing so, he explores and documents the life trajectory of people working under the ground, seeking the ores that will give life to the technological goods distributed over the world.