Charly d’Almeida
Born in 1968 in Cotonou (Benin). Lives and works between Cotonou and Orléans (France). Charly d’Almeida has been training for four years with painter and set designer Joseph Kpobly. He started creating sculptures around 2003. After participating in various exhibitions worldwide (France, Benin, Senegal, Milan, Naples, Berlin, Frankfurt…), he decided to open Le Cénacle expérimental, a studio and center for resident artists in Cotonou. In 2018, he established his own exhibition space, also in Cotonou : Gallery Charly. There the artist not only presents his own work but also organises events in order to promote the contemporary art scene. For a long time, Charly d’Almeida has been using burnt wood to make his highly graphic sculptures, however today he has turned to iron, a material associated in Voodoo tradition with divinity Gou or Ogoun – who is also the spirit of War