Merveille Kelekele Kelekele’s paintings depict the crossing over of our dreams into the waking hours. Raised in the Congo until age nine, Kelekele experienced constant national and familial displacement, having been moved between houses across Europe every few years. Kelekele’s painting focuses upon his awareness of metaphysical creatures, amorphous in shape and indeterminate in size, that accompanied him through his adolescent journey. Surreal, spindly creatures are set within washed natural-tone backdrops reminiscent of the pervasive, red sands from his early years in Africa. Conveying the visceral presence of these creatures within his own daily life, Kelekele often appropriates personal objects into his tableaus, such as his beloved Kofia hats and necklaces. Hidden within each of his paintings is a seemingly aloof version of the Kelekele with a companion crow, both painted miniscule in scale. Despite the magnanimous quality of these metaphysical creatures, Kelekele broaches quietly an individual’s ability to either surmount and manifest hallucinations, nightmares, hopes and dreams.
Merveille Kelekele Kelekele (b. 2001 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) is currently attending the Beaux-arts de Paris in Paris, France. Recent solo exhibitions include Balanced Psychopath, Casa MB, Milan, Italy; and Merveille Kelekele, Association PERSAN, Paris, France. Recent group exhibitions include Nos Découvertes 2023!, Galerie du Jour agnès b., Paris, France; Rêvelucide, FLAW Gallery, Paris, France; Les Apartés Festival, Les Apartés & Point Éphémère, Paris, France, and Exposition Collective Libre n°3, 3537 Organization, Paris, France. In 2023, he was an artist-in-residence at Domo Damo in São Paolo, Brazil. Kelekele Kelekele lives and works in Paris, France.