A country’s artistic talent is showcased each year in France through the Prix Ellipse, contemporary art competition. This artistic event, which showcases many of the selected country’s contemporary artists, aims to promote the expressive capacity of art and support globalization, as well as the artistic talent of individual artists. The most exciting moment of the competition is the discovery of the five finalists selected for this contemporary art event, the Prix Ellipse 2023.
This year’s Prix Ellipse highlights Togolese artistic creation, and a first meeting of the jury responsible for selecting the five finalists for this third edition took place on Friday May 12, 2023. Among the 54 applications from artists living in Togo and Togolese artists living on the African continent, including 14 from female artists, five exceptional artists were chosen by the jury to represent contemporary Togolese art. The independent jury is made up of contemporary art professionals and specialists in the Togolese art scene.
Pending the announcement of the Prix Ellipse 2023 winner, which will take place on June 7, 2023, the five Prix Ellipse 2023 finalists selected by our jury members are: Parmenas Awudza, Clément Gbegno, Ras Sankara, Koffi Seble and Thierry Tomety. All these talented artists are competing in the hope of benefiting from the many advantages offered to the winner of the Prix Ellipse 2023. This first victory is both moving and engaging for our contemporary African artists. Discover a brief overview of the personalities and work of the five finalists in this third edition of the Prix Ellipse 2023.
PARMENAS AWUDZA
Born in Togo in 2000, Parmenas Awudza is a young artist who expresses himself through photography. He took up this artistic discipline at the age of 16, and decided to pursue photography training alongside his studies. Now based in Lomé, the photographic works of this Togolese artist are a perfect blend of color, chance and coincidence. Parmenas Awudza communicates his vision of the world through photographs rich in contrast and uniquely framed. Ordinary moments in life are presented with a special visual appeal, bringing out the full beauty of his work. Specializing in lifestyle and travel, he explores landscapes with his photographic lens in search of new inspirations to develop his photographic art.
CLEMENT GBEGNO
Clément Gbegno is a Togolese visual artist with a multidimensional approach. Born in 1993 in Lomé, his art is truly known to the general public thanks to his exhibition “Afrique Force et Identité“, held in 2014 at the headquarters of the European Union Delegation in Togo. Fascinated by research into the themes of Essence-Disappearance, Clément Gbegno adopts a “Decomposito-recomposition” technique aimed at studying in depth the cycles of metamorphosis of being. In search of a deeper understanding of being and its immediate environment, he embarks on an exploration of the real, the imaginary and the hidden meaning of all things. Clément Gbegno’s artistic work is based on his keen intuition and ability to restore, collage and superimpose textures. Today, he aspires to the continuity and globalization of his art, in order to share more experiences with an ever-widening public and art professionals.
KOFFI SEBLE
The work of Togolese artist Koffi Seble is that of a talented young contemporary artist. Born in 1993 in Adidogomé, he has always had a passion for cinema and photography. After graduating from high school in 2014, he trained in cinematography and photography, where he eventually chose to specialize in photographic art. He developed a particular attachment to this artistic discipline and decided to devote himself exclusively to it. He followed successive training courses to develop his love and experience of photography. With a childhood deeply imbued with voodoo culture, Koffi Seble presents a universe centered on the invisible and the sacred through his photographs. The Togolese artist reveals with transparency these moments of communion with the invisible forces of the supernatural world.
RAS SANKARA
Real name AGBOKA Kossi Apéli, Ras Sankara is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist renowned for his singular expressive quality. He grew up in an artistic and cultural environment and developed his artistic technique through numerous training courses. Ras Sankara has followed a rich artistic path and maintains a certain freedom in the expressive quality of his works. Photography, visual arts (performance installations) and painting are all artistic means used by this Togolese artist to communicate with people in Africa and beyond. Born in 1989 and originally from the Plateaux region, a cultural and tourist area of Togo, the artist uses his art to denounce socio-political problems such as wars, bad governance and poverty, among others. The street becomes his main exhibition space, where he exposes his criticisms and reflections in order to raise awareness.
THIERRY TOMETY
Thierry Tomety is a visionary artist who uses his art to communicate with his subconscious. According to him, his works are simply the materialization of images and thoughts from his subconscious. Born in Lomé in 1993, Thierry Tomety began his career as a computer and graphic designer in his spare time. Later, he discovered his passion for color and decided to leave his professional career to devote himself exclusively to his art. His work explores the creative process, human emotions and the meaning of life. His pictorial works explore the subject of reconstituting matter, where Thierry Tomety strives to destroy and reconstruct elements and textures as he sees fit, in order to answer his questions about human existence.
