King Houndekpinkou
Born in Montreuil (France) in 1987, King Houndekpinkou is a Franco-Beninese ceramic artist who lives in Paris. As the face of a rising generation of artists from the African diaspora exploring global possibilities, King is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC) and works in France, Japan and Benin. King grew up in the suburbs of Paris where his childhood was highly influenced by the Japanese pop culture imported to France in the 1990’s (e.g. anime, video games, manga). Thus, during his younger years, he cultivated a passion for Japan. This passion for the Land of the Rising Sun followed him throughout his adolescence and is still vivid today, as he continues to visit Japan every year.
In 2012, while actively pursuing a career in corporate communications and without any prior interaction with the world of ceramics, King fulfilled his childhood dream of visiting Japan. It was during this first trip that he inadvertently discovered the existence of the six historical cities of ancestral Japanese pottery known as the Roku Koyō (Bizen, Echizen, Seto, Shigaraki, Tamba and Tokoname). One of these cities captured his attention: Bizen, where he subsequently went every year to complete his training in pottery, which started that same year in Paris. These trips allowed him to acquire field experience with the potters of the Keramos group and more particularly with the ceramist Toshiaki Shibuta, who became not a mentor but: a “father of clay”, in his own words.
In Bizen, King was struck by the ceremonial approach adopted by his potter friends to make their creations, whose foundations are based on the work of earth and fire. This creative process gives rise to works of raw aesthetics, covered with a natural glaze of wood ash. Their practice seemed to be infused with Shintoism spirituality and echoed with the Voodoo animist traditions of King’s Beninese heritage. According to him, both beliefs seek a transcendental relationship between man and nature to guide our existence. This revelation convinced him to leave his first life path so to fully devote himself to ceramics, which would become first a personal, and then an artistic quest. From this experience, King created Terres Jumelles in 2016 (“Twin Soils” in English), a cultural program aiming to unite Benin and Japan through the practice of traditional and contemporary ceramics. Clay embodies a universal material for cultural dialogue, inviting Beninese and Japanese ceramists to share their experiences in order to highlight the unifying and human values of ceramics.
Today, King has developed a practice that blends tradition, spirituality and visceral work of the material. By questioning the porous boundaries separating craft from art today, he creates work at the crossroads between his personal history and the universal narrative of clay work. While he expresses a deep respect for the tradition of ceramics (whether artistic or artisanal), King still creates works that are resolutely contemporary and modern in their execution (i.e. glazing technique, high temperature electric firing, shapes). In 2017, he was part of the major tribute exhibition to American potter George Ohr [1857-1918] titled Regarding George Ohr: Contemporary Ceramics in the Spirit of the Mad Potter at Boca Raton Museum of Art (Florida, U.S), curated by ceramics expert Garth Clark. The show featured other major figures of contemporary ceramics such as Glenn Barkley, Takuro Kuwata, Anne-Marie Laureys, Gareth Mason, Ron Nagel, Gustavo Perez, Ken Price, Peter Voulkos and Betty Woodman. According to Clark “all are decidedly irreverent in their processes, disdainful of rules, and liberated in their use of vessel form, morphing into sculpture, painting with similar abandon and an electric palette. Just like Ohr, many are highly controversial talents and their disregard of the conventions of beauty have polarized the ceramics and art community.” King’s other exhibition peers also include artists such as Jeff Koons, Sterling Ruby, Pedro Reyes and interior designer Jean-Michel Frank.
King’s achievements and career path set him in a lineage of artists that have been exploring creative possibilities with the vessel shape which, to King, “functions” as a universal and timeless canvas to engage in conversations accessible to all beings regardless their gender, social status, generation, skin colour and culture. The “anatomy” of some works consists of containers shaped separately on the potter’s wheel (e.g. vases, cups, bowls, dishes), then assembled together to form a sculptural piece with vivid textures. Although built on a base of simple forms, some of his creations seem “tortured” and “disfigured” by an overload of dense materials, a heap of superimposed matte, shiny, and metallic drips. They visually represent the accumulation of stories and events that preceded them and from which they derive. If we look at some of the details, we notice a thick enveloping “skin”, thorns similar to those found on ritual pots in West Africa. They are reminiscent of certain attributes of plants and animals whose spikes or thorns give them almost divine protection, thus giving them a sacred status.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022
King Houndekpinkou: Bas-Reliefs & Dessins, Enseigne des Oudin, Paris, France.
2021
‘King Houndekpinkou: Dans Mon Jardin’, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
2020
‘King Houndekpinkou: Gravité’, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
2019
‘King Houndekpinkou: Belles Brutes, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
2018
‘Thank you for the clay!’, Fujiki Gallery, Shigaraki, Japan.
2017
‘King Houndekpinkou: Time on Earth’, Vallois America, New York, US.
‘King Houndekpinkou: De Passage sur Terre, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
2016
‘Un dimanche à la galerie: King Houndekpinkou, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
‘Terre de Mèmoire’, Centres – Art & Cultures, Cotonou, Benin.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Art du Bénin, d’Hier et d’Aujourd’hui: de la Restitution à la Révélation – Contemporain Musée Mohammed VI d’Art Moderne & Contemporain, Rabat, Moracco.
2022
‘Collection Viviane S.’, Museu del Càntir, Argentina, Spain.
‘Ceramics Now’, Galerie Italienne, Paris, France.
‘Art du Bénin, d’Hier et d’Aujourd’hui: de la Restitution à la Révélation’, The Republic of Benin’s Palace / Palais de la Marina, Cotonou, Benin.
2021
‘Spring’, Sarah Scout Presents Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
‘1:54 – Redefining the Trends, Histories in the Making’, Christie’s, London, UK.
Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK.
2020
‘International Academy of Ceramics Exhibition’, Guozhong Ceramic Art Museum, Beijing, China.
‘Là où l’Âme se Plaît’, Carrousel de Louvre, Paris France.
2019
‘Polyartworks – Perfromer’, Minnano Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
‘Les Asen – Arts du Bénin – Parcours des Mondes’, Galeries Vallois, Paris, France.
‘An Idea Needing to be Made: Contemporary Ceramics’, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia.
‘Visceral Clay: Look don’t Touch’, Gerald Peters Projects, Sante Fe, New Mexico, US.
‘NCECA – Trans-Pacific Dialogue’ Marrying Form and Surface Across the Globe’,
Collaborative Design Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US.
2018
‘Céramique Contemporaine: les artistes de Viviane S’, Abbaye de Léhon, Dinan, France.
‘Hier, Aujourd’hui, Demain – Parcours des Mondes’, 2018 , Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
‘Palau de Casavells – Summer Exhibition’, Palau de Casavells, Girona, Spain.
‘Vasa Vasorum | The Vase in Contemporary Art + Design’, Peters Projects, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US.
‘Business as Usual’, Minnano Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
‘Clay Gulgong’, The Masters’ Show, Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia.
2017
‘Regarding George Ohr: Contemporary Ceramics in the Spirit of the Mad Potter’, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA.
‘Africa Blooms Japan’, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong.
2016
‘Kaïdin & King: l’éternel de l’immatériel’, Espace Christiane Peugeot, Paris, France.
‘Hommage au Bénin, 20 artistes contemporains Béninois’, Château de Tanlay, France.
2015
‘Temps modernes, la mémoire de l’esclavage et l’art contemporain’, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
‘Coco Fronsac & King’, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France.
Selected Art Fairs
2022
‘1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair – New York’, Harlem Parish, New York, US.
‘PAD Paris – Design + Art, Tuileries, Paris, France.
‘Artgenève’, Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Investec – Cape Town Art Fair’ Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa.
2021
‘ST-ART – Foire Européenne d’art contemporain & de design’, Parc des Expositions, Strasbourg, France.
‘Art X Lagos’, The Federal Palace, Lagos, Nigeria.
‘AKAA – Also Known as Africa – Contemporary Art Fair’ Le Carreau du Temple, Paris, France.
2020
‘1-54 – Contemporary African Art Fair – London’, Somerset House, London, UK.
‘Spring 1883 Art Fair’, Sarah Scout Presents, Melbourne, Australia.
‘Collect Art Fair: International Art Fair for Contemporary Craft and Design’, Online + VIP Showroom w/ 50 Golborne, Paris, France.
2019
‘The Salon Art + Design, Park Avenue Armory, New York, US.
‘KOGEI – Art Fair Kanazawa’, The Share Hotels, Kanazawa, Japan.
‘Art Fair Tokyo’, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan.
2018
‘AKAA – Also Known as Africa – Contemporary Art Fair’, Le Carreau du Temple, Paris, France.
‘Art Paris Art Fair’, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France.
‘1-54 – Contemporary African Art Fair’, La Mamounia Palace, Marrakech, Morocco.
2017
‘AKAA – Also Known as Africa – Contemporary Art Fair’, Le Carreau du Temple, Paris, France.
‘Art Paris Art Fair’, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France.
2016
‘AKAA – Also Known As Africa – Contemporary Art Fair’, Le Carreau du Temple, Paris, France.
‘Art Paris Art Fair’, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France.
Selected Biennales
2022
Le Bénin en Majesté, Librairie aux 4 Vents, Dakar, Senegal.
‘Homo Faber – Crafting a More Human Future’, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy.
2019
10th Korean International Ceramic Biennale, Incheon World Ceramic Center, Incheon, South Korea.
Biennale Internationale des Métiers d’Art & Création Révélations, Le Banquet, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France.
2018
Biennale, De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg, Gestes & Merveilles, Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État du Luxembourg (BCEE), Luxembourg.
2016
Subabiennale – Biennale de Dakar Dak Art’ 2016 OFF, CICAD – Dakar, Senegal.
Selected Artist Residencies
2018
Shigaraki Ceramic Culture Park, Shigaraki, Japan.
2016
Le Centre Arts & Culture, Cotonou, Benin.
Selected Permanent Collections
Grassi Museum of Applied Art – Leipzig, Germany.
The Republic of Benin’s Presidency – Cotonou, The Republic of Benin Tokyo. Embassy of the Republic of Benin – Tokyo, Japan.
Selected Conferences / Panels / Symposiums / Lectures
2019
Public Program – An Idea Needing to be Made: Contemporary Ceramics Lecture on personal work.
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia.
Educator’s Program – An Idea Needing to be Made: Contemporary Ceramics Lecture on personal work.
Manningham Art Studios, Melbourne, Australia.
‘King Houndekpinkou: Connecting with the Clay, Beyond all Borders’, Lecture on personal work, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
‘King Houndekpinkou: Connecting with the Clay, Beyond all Borders Lecture on personal work’, Seika Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
‘Trans-Pacific Dialogue: Marrying Form and Surface Across the Globe’, Panel discussion featuring Glenn Barkley (AUS), Virginia Leonard (NZ), Andrew Casto (USA), David Hicks (US) and Mindy Solomon (US).
The University of Iowa / NCECA 2019, Minneapolis Convention Center, US.
2018
Lecture on personal work, ‘Clay Gulgong’, New South Wales, Australia.
2017
‘Regarding George Ohr: Contemporary Ceramics in the Spirit of the Mad Potter’ Lecture on personal work, Florida Atlantic University, Florida, USA.
2016
‘Terre de Mémoire’, Residency conference and lecture, Le Centre Arts & Culture, Cotonou, Benin.
Selected
artworks
Blue Cavilux: Ocean Waves and Stars I , 2022
Blend of white stoneware, various clays (US, Japan, Benin), blue and pearl white glazes and gold. 36 x 34 x 34 cm
Blue Totem: Gold & Blue , 2022
Blend of white stoneware and mix of various clays (US, Japan, Benin), blue and pearl-white glazes, blue acrylic paint and gold. 27 x 18 x 18 cm
Bubble Tea Doll , 2022
Black and white stoneware, yellow and black glazes, white and pink fluor acrylic and gold. 26.5 x 15 x 15 cm
Bubble Tea Doll III , 2022
Black and white stonewares (US, Japan, Benin), black and yellow glazes, pink acrylic and gold 30 x 25 x 25 cm
Gravitè: Trempè dans une mer d’acide… , 2020
Black stoneware, blue glaze, fluor and mat blue acrylic 39 x 24 x 24 cm
Green and Orange Bubble Tea Vessel Sculpture , 2022
Blend of white stoneware and various clays (US, Japan, Benin), green glazes, orange and yellow acrylics pains, platinum and silver. 48 x 30 x 30 cm
Green Bubble Tea Doll , 2022
Black and white stoneware, yellow and green glaze, orange acrylic and gold 36.5 x 21 x 21 cm
Large Bubble Tea Doll , 2021
Black and white stoneware (US, Japan and Benin), green and black glaze, white and pink acrylic and gold 52 x 31 x 31 cm
Outer Space Gold Ritual Vessel Sculpture , 2021
Black and white stoneware (US, Japan and Benin), blue and pearl-white glazes, yellow and orange acrylic and gold 30 x 20 x 20 cm
Outer Space Ritual Vessel Sculpture: Bubble Tea Juice and Pink Bubble Gum , 2022
Blend of white stoneware, various clays (US, Japan, Benin), black, yellow and orange glazes, pink acrylic paint and gold. 45 x 50 x 32 cm
Outer Space Silver Ritual Vessel Sculpture , 2022
Blend of white stoneware, various clays (US, Japan, Benin), blue and pearl-white glazes, orange and yellow acrylic, platinum and silver. 31 x 21 x 21 cm
Petit Cavilux Bleu: Ocean Waves , 2022
White stoneware (US, Japan and Benin), blue and pearl-blue glazes and gold 20 x 26 x 26 cm
Purple and Gold Totem , 2022
Blend of white stoneware and mix of various clays (US, Japan, Benin), blue and pearl-white glazes, purple acrylic paint and gold. 27 x 19 x 19 cm
Renaissance , 2017
Black stoneware (Canary Islands, Germany, Benin), red pine ashes (Bizen, Japan), purple, red, white, pink, black gazes and gold. 57 x 24 x 24 cm
Sea Spouts
Black and white stoneware (US, Japan, Benin), blue glaze, blue, green, red and yellow acrylic 27 x 14.5 x 14.5 cm
Silver Red Ritual Vessel Sculpture , 2022
Blend of white and black stoneware. Black and silver-red glazes 28 x 22 x 22 cm
The New Deities’ Platter: Gold Shards and Two Good Black Juicy Fruits , 2022
Blend of stoneware (US, Japan and Benin), black, green, yellow and orange glazes, orange and pink acrylic and gold 46 x 47 x 37 cm
The Splendid Fall of Libations , 2022
Blend of stoneware (US, Japan and Benin), blue and pearl-white glazes and gol 59 x 38 x 38 cm
The Widow of Light: Don’t Let This Gold Fool You, I’m Made of Darker Colours , 2019
White stoneware (Westerwald, Germany), clay from Betta (Benin), stoneware from Tamba (Japan), white glaze and gold luster 54 x 37 x 37 cm
Tribeka à Pointes Acides , 2021
Black and white stoneware (US, Japan and Benin), blue and white glazes, matt blue and pink flour acrylic. 29 x 18 x 18 cm
Trigobolis à Pois Noires Brillants , 2021
Black and white stoneware (US, Japan and Benin), yellow and black glazes, white and pink four acrylic and gold 31 x 20 x 20 cm
Une Jetée Splendide… de Larmes Givrées , 2022
Blend of white stoneware, various clays (US, Japan and Benin), blue and pearl-white glazes and gold. 67 x 40 x 40 cm
