Makef

20 September 2022

MAKEF (real name Fulbert Makoutodé Énagnon). Born in 1967 in Cotonou, where he lives and works. Makef is a self-taught artist. Since he was a child he has been passionate about drawing. As an adult, he got the idea of using his children’s school notebooks as drawing material, including their writings and drawings in his own creations. Thus, working at night, he made an important series of works, by using only black ballpoint pen. Displaying great originality, he named this set Mes nuits insomniaques et quelques jours d’errance, which can be translated as My sleepless nights and a few wandering days. Makef develops various themes, from daily life to social satire, from proverbs to religion or politics, of which he is gladly critical. Often humorous, his drawings sometimes have an educational purpose or tend towards mysticism or fantasy, if not abstraction.