Lot 17: Pascale Marthine Tayou (Cameroonian, born 1967) Classroom E, 2013

Pascale Marthine Tayou (Cameroonian, born 1967)
Classroom E, 2013 signed, dated and titled (verso)chalk, pins, wood frame123 x 123cm (48 7/16 x 48 7/16in).

Pascale Marthine Tayou divides his time between Ghent, Belgium and his birthplace of Yaounde, Cameroon. At the start of his artistic career Tayou distanced himself from the typical male/ female ascriptions by adding an 'e' to the end of both his first and middle names, thus making it feminine. As well as gender, Tayou doesn't confine himself with set themes or materials. Classroom E is part of Tayou's Classroom Walls series. A selection of works from this series were exhibited in his solo exhibition 'Akwaba, Assinie mon amour' at Galerie Cecile Fakhoury in 2014. "I take inspiration from white and coloured pieces of chalk in reference to childhood and school memories. But even the bright colours that the pieces of chalk give to this artwork an happy and light aspect, this can't hide the wounds and the cuts of those years of apprenticeship. Very often, at our expense, there is one side what we learn at school, and on another side what life teaches us. Here, Classroomwalls can refer to the walls of hell or to the walls of heaven".Pascale Marthine Tayou's solo exhibitions include Beautiful, Bass Museum, Miami, USA 2017; Serpentine Sacklar Gallery, London 2015 and World Share: Installations by Pascale Marthine Tayou, UCLA Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, USA.