Terre des Hommes

At forty years old, Méné has lived his life without clamor and his quiet silhouette is evident in his work. A graduate of the National Institute of Arts and Cultural Action (INSAAC) of Abidjan and Professor of Fine Arts, the artist has followed this path with talent and tenacity and without unnecessary fanfare. Over the last twenty years he has presented his works all over the world, from Abidjan to Paris, from Luxembourg to Dakar, also passing through Spain, and his success has never changed his unassuming character.

The work itself constitutes his fundamental essence. Méné has been able to change his style without ever losing his identity. He is constantly renewing his technique through thoughtful inquiry. For example, in some of his recent works, Méné has used the worn plastics utilized by house painters as a random background. Regardless, human beings always remain at the core of his work. Alone or in groups, humans are the focus of his paintings, almost exclusively, although other elements - a red and indefinable animal, a beast with horns, the sun or a hut - occasionally occupy the space.

His work unceasingly examines human nature and all its components, both visible and invisible. Presented in a deceptively simple manner, these silhouettes seem to be drawn by a child. However, they contain both the freshness of childish works and at the same time, the depth of work done by an adult who is confronting the world as it is rather than how he would like it to be. There is no pointless prattle, the artist is not talkative and lets his work speak for itself. No breathtaking conceptions, no verbal rambling; the work alone, in the form of an eternal question mark!

The subjects presented, often only in bust and facing the viewer, smile with a good-natured air. If they are not laughing, their mouths may indicate a barely sketched grimace or even a shout. They are usually depicted in groups of two or three, holding each other affectionately by the hand or shoulders.

Méné’s works are depicted without pessimism and with no explicit reference to the realities of the daily life of poor populations, but rather of the effervescence of youth and the pursuit of their livelihoods and meaning in their lives. And yet, if we want to go beyond the placid appearances and juvenile freshness of these paintings, we are forced to recognize some discreet signs or coded language intended for those alone who know, those who can see beyond the images to perhaps a less serene reality.