Ajarb Bernard Ategwa

Ategwa was born in 1988 in Kumba, Cameroon. His work has recently been acquired by the Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin and the Perez Art Museum Miami. In recent works, Ategwa uses portrait formats and draws on subjects from a neighbourhood photo studio. He offers a local perspective on modes of self representation in Cameroon […]


Ategwa was born in 1988 in Kumba, Cameroon. His work has recently been acquired by the Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin and the Perez Art Museum Miami. In recent works, Ategwa uses portrait formats and draws on subjects from a neighbourhood photo studio. He offers a local perspective on modes of self representation in Cameroon today. Both style and composition in these images recall African black and white studio photography from the post independence era. The use of framing and strong defined identities reference more contemporary influences from social media platforms. In stark contrast to the artist’s hard line execution, he introduces a new painterly water colour element which holds back the portrait’s full disclosure.

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