Down Town

Rendered on a monumental scale spanning six metres in width, Boris Nzebo’s Down Town is inspired by the urban energy of Douala, Cameroon’s largest city, where he lives and works. Defined by the artist as ‘Neo Pop Art’, his vibrant paintings and collages mine the languages of street murals, graffiti, advertising and traditional and contemporary fashion trends. The kaleidoscopic visual fabric of the city is channelled through bright colours and layered forms, combining architectural features with snapshots of daily life. Nzebo’s style owes much to his early roots as a shop sign painter for local hairdressers – namely his two brothers and their friends. West African hairstyles would come to form an important point of reference in his work, both as visual constructs and as a means of exploring the relationship between individual and collective identity. Following his inclusion in Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America at the Saatchi Gallery – in which the present work was shown – Nzebo mounted a solo exhibition with Manchester Art Gallery in 2016, who subsequently acquired one of his works for their permanent collection.