Striking new sculptures by acclaimed artist from Benin.

October Gallery presents My Blue Period, a solo exhibition by the internationally renowned artist Romuald Hazoumè (https://www.octobergallery.co.uk/artists/hazoume) , which coincides with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair and Frieze London.

Romuald Hazoumè revisits his iconic masques bidons (Fr. bidon* – flask, container, bottle)—presenting a striking series of masks made from repurposed plastic containers that are animated by an eclectic array of found materials. Wittily imagined as portraits of figures inhabiting particular places in the contemporary geo-political landscape, these new sculptures come freighted with Hazoumè’s biting commentaries on current issues of global concern. Displaying his wicked eye for detail, each mask dances before our eyes enlivened by his irreverent sense of humour. Hazoumè’s ironic avatars offer timely reflections on the precarious nature of the world we all inhabit.

Creating ‘masks’ from plastic containers, the majority of which are blue in colour, allows Hazoumè to play with associations, such as Picasso and ‘the Blues’. Somehow, these blue masks seem to penetrate deeper still, adopting darker, more ominous tones, reflecting anxieties fed by the many interconnected crises of the present day.

Hazoumè’s work is well known for addressing such complex matters as slavery (historical and modern), migration and the brutal realities developing in postcolonial Africa. Once again, these powerful works, taken collectively, underline Hazoumè’s willing acceptance of the artist’s responsibility to confront patent abuses of authority while speaking truth to power.

Romuald Hazoumè: My Blue Period, will exhibit from 8th October and continue until 21st November, 2026.

More information here (https://www.octobergallery.co.uk/exhibitions/romuald-hazoume-my-blue-period)

The exhibition Romuald Hazoumè: My Blue Period and Gallery Talk are supported by using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

October Gallery Trust (https://www.octobergallery.co.uk/about_us/) has nurtured and promoted extraordinary artists from a multitude of cultures — long before such global perspectives became common practice. The gallery has been widely valued as a nexus for artistic, intellectual and ecological collaboration, supported by a rich cross-cultural education programme. As we look ahead, we do so with the same pioneering spirit that defined our beginnings.

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About Romuald Hazoumè (https://www.octobergallery.co.uk/artists/hazoume)

Born in Porto-Novo, Benin, Hazoumè has created some of the most iconic bodies of work in contemporary African art.

His work has been exhibited in major international galleries and museums across the globe including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; the Centre Pompidou and the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France; and ICP, New York, USA. In 2018, Hazoumè was included in the KYOTOGRAPHIE international photography festival, Kyoto, Japan. His works have been included in Ex-Africa, Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France, Expression(s) décoloniale(s) #2, Château des Duc de Bretagne, Musée d’Histoire de Nantes, Nantes, France and Portable Sculpture, Henry Moore Foundation, Leeds, UK. Recently a solo exhibition of his paintings, Romuald Hazoumè: The Fâ Series (Sep, 2023 – Feb, 2024) was held at the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College, SUNY, USA. In 2024, Romuald Hazoumè was selected as one of the four major artists to represent The Republic of Benin with Àṣẹ, a large-scale installation, created from petrol canisters, for the 60th edition of La Biennale di Venezia. His photographs were selected for the group exhibition, We Are Here: Scenes from the Streets at ICP, New York, NY, USA, (Sep 2024 – Jan 2025). Hazoumè’s series of flags displaying symbols based on the Fâ – were included in Alter Eco, museum in progress, Vienna, Austria, as part of the Vienna Climate Biennale, in 2026.

Hazoumè’s works are in prominent public and private collections around the world, including the permanent collections of the British Museum, London, UK; QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA; MoMA, New York, USA; the Pigozzi Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; and the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France.

Description supplied by the event organiser.