Chéri Samba

Chéri Samba is a Congolese painter whose brightly colored, text-heavy works portray social and political life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

J’aime la couleur: A painting by Chéri Samba that presents color as a defining element of his artistic identity. It makes his stated commitment to vivid color part of the work’s subject.
Text in visual art: The use of written language as an element within an artwork’s visual composition. Samba’s captions and speech-like writing guide how his scenes are read.
Kinshasa: The capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its street life and public debates recur throughout Samba’s subject matter.
Magiciens de la Terre: A 1989 exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris. Samba’s participation placed his work in a landmark international exhibition.
Le monde est trouble: A painting by Chéri Samba depicting a world unsettled by political and social disorder. Its troubled world exemplifies his engagement with contemporary public life.
Speech balloon: A graphic device that encloses words or thoughts attributed to a depicted speaker. Speech balloons let painted figures comment directly on their scenes.
Popular painting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A painting tradition that developed around urban audiences and everyday subjects in the Congo. Samba’s work emerged within this accessible, locally grounded painting culture.
Art Institute of Chicago: An art museum in Chicago with collections spanning ancient and contemporary art. The museum has exhibited and collected Samba’s work.
La vraie carte du monde: A painting by Chéri Samba that challenges conventional ways of mapping global importance. It connects his Congolese perspective to unequal ideas of world geography.
Political satire: Humor, irony, or exaggeration used to criticize political power and conduct. His text and imagery often expose contradictions in public life.

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