Presentation

AMANI Aka Ange, known as AMAKAN, is an Ivorian painter born in 1979 in Touba, in the northwest of Côte d'Ivoire. He is a graduate of the Centre Technique d'Arts Appliqués (CTAA) in Bingerville, and the Centre Régional des Arts et des métiers de l'Art d'Abengourou (CRAMA). Backed by the training he received, Amakan was selected in the early 2000s by Maître Samir Stenka as one of the rising stars of the Ivorian scene. Today, Amakan shows a definite plastic maturity, adopting an artistic approach in which color plays a predominant role, driven by his ability to follow a specific expressionist line. He draws on the resources of the soul and spirit to express his vision of the world through painting. Through the application of muted stains, the artist plays with blood-red tones and yellow or white flashes of light, to imprint a floral mood. With its expressive force, the impetuosity of its ember glow, and an atmosphere inhabited by eye-catching characters, Amakan's painting instructs an original style in the soothing softness of a bouquet of flowers. This contrast of colors reveals to the viewer a perception of man as a spiritual being animated by universal energy. Amakan readily tackles themes centered on historical facts, the desire for freedom, encounters and travel.