Samuel FOSSO
サミュエル・フォッソ
Working between photography, self-portraiture and performance, the work of Franco-Cameroonian photographer Samuel Fosso occupies a central position in the international contemporary art world.
From his early works in the 70’s, creation of alternate identities that challenged representational conventions, Samuel Fosso has given autofiction and self-portraiture a new dimension, one that is all at once political and historical, fictional and intimate. Embodying key historical figures and social archetypes has become for him not only a way of existing in the world, but also a clear demonstration of the power of photography to construct myths, and a way to question what is at stake in accepted codes of representation and identity.
Publications
2022 - Christine Barthe, Samuel Fosso, Photo Poche n° 168, Editions Actes Sud / Photofile, Thames & Hudson Ltd
2022 - Mark Sealy, Photography: Race, Rights and Representation, London, Lawrence & Wishart
2021 - Christian Gattinoni & Yannick Vigouroux, Les Fictions documentaires en photographie, Nouvelles éditions Scala
2021 - Dr. Kenneth Montague (edited by), As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic, Aperture Editions
2021 - Studio Photo Nationale, Sébastien Girard & Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris
2021 - Charlotte Jensen, Photography Now: Fifty Pioneers Defining Photography for the Twenty-First Century, Lewes, UK, Octopus Publishing Group in collaboration with Tate
2020 - À toi appartient le regard (…) et la liaison infinie entre les choses, exhibition catalogue, Paris, co-edition musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac / Actes Sud
2020 - Steven Evens & Mark Sealy, African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other, FotoFest Biennial 2020 exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Schilt Publishing
2020 - Okwui Enwezor (edited by), Samuel Fosso : Autoportrait, Steidl / The Walther Collection, New York. Text by Quentin Bajac, Yves Chatap, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Chika Okeke-Agulu, Oluremi C. Onabanjo, Terry Smith, Claire Staebler, James Thomas
2020 - Samuel Fosso: SIXSIXSIX, With a conversation between Samuel Fosso and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Steidl & The Walther Collection, New York
2022 - Mark Sealy, Photography: Race, Rights and Representation, London, Lawrence & Wishart
2021 - Christian Gattinoni & Yannick Vigouroux, Les Fictions documentaires en photographie, Nouvelles éditions Scala
2021 - Dr. Kenneth Montague (edited by), As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic, Aperture Editions
2021 - Studio Photo Nationale, Sébastien Girard & Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris
2021 - Charlotte Jensen, Photography Now: Fifty Pioneers Defining Photography for the Twenty-First Century, Lewes, UK, Octopus Publishing Group in collaboration with Tate
2020 - À toi appartient le regard (…) et la liaison infinie entre les choses, exhibition catalogue, Paris, co-edition musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac / Actes Sud
2020 - Steven Evens & Mark Sealy, African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other, FotoFest Biennial 2020 exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Schilt Publishing
2020 - Okwui Enwezor (edited by), Samuel Fosso : Autoportrait, Steidl / The Walther Collection, New York. Text by Quentin Bajac, Yves Chatap, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Chika Okeke-Agulu, Oluremi C. Onabanjo, Terry Smith, Claire Staebler, James Thomas
2020 - Samuel Fosso: SIXSIXSIX, With a conversation between Samuel Fosso and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Steidl & The Walther Collection, New York
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 - Samuel Fosso: Affirmative Acts, Princeton University Art Museum, USA
2022 - Samuel Fosso: Encontrarse en el otro, Museo del Canal, Panama City, Panama
2022 - Samuel Fosso, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Germany
2022 - Samuel Fosso: African Spirits, The Menil Collection, Houston, USA – in conjunction with the 2022 FotoFest Biennial and African Cosmologies Redux
2022 - Samuel Fosso, The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm, Germany ; Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2021 - Samuel Fosso, Maison européeenne de la photographie, Paris, France
2018 - Samuel Fosso. An African Odyssey, PHotoEspaña, Centro Cultural de la Villa Fernan Gomez, Madrid, Spain
2017 - Transitions: Samuel Fosso dans la collection du FRAC Réunion, Maison Bédier, Piton Saint Leu, France
2017 - Samuel Fosso: Self-Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
2015 - Looting / Pillage, Paris Photo, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2014 - Samuel Fosso, The Walther Collection Project Space, New York, USA
2014 - Emperor of Africa, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2014 - ALLONZENFANS, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2013 - Samuel Fosso, Purdy Hicks Gallery, London, UK
2013 - Samuel Fosso: African Spirits, The Emperor of Africa, 4th LagosPhoto Festival, Nigeria
2010 - 30 ans d’autoportraits, Maison des Arts et de la Culture, Créteil, France
2010 - Samuel Fosso, autoportraits 1970-2008, Institut Français, Dakar, Senegal; N’Djamena, Chad; Harare, Zimbabwe; Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; Antananarivo, Madagascar
2008 - African Spirits, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2008 - Autoportraits, Photoink, New Delhi, India
2008 - Autorretratos, Festival de La Luz, Maman Fine Art Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2008 - Vous serez beau, chic, délicat et facile à reconnaître. Autoportraits. Sélection de Christian Lacroix », Les Ateliers des Forges, 39th Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles, France
2007 - Samuel Fosso. Monographie, 7th Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali
2007 - Samuel Fosso, Vol. II Tati series, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2007 - Samuel Fosso, Vol. I Le Rêve de mon Grand-Père series, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2005 - Autoportraits, Platform for Art, London Underground, Gloucester Road Station, UK
2004 - Samuel Fosso, Istituto Centrale per la Grafica – Calcografia, Roma, Italy; Centro Internazionale di Fotografia Scavi Scaligeri, Verona, Italy
2003 - Samuel Fosso, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2003 - Autoretratos, PHotoEspaña, NosOtros, Madrid, Spain
1999 - Galerie Maï Ollivier, Paris, France
1997 - Samuel Fosso. Photographs, Greengrassi Gallery, London, UK
1997 - L’Abattoir, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
1996 - Galerie du Théâtre, Gap, France
1996 - Artothèque de Grenoble, France
1995 - Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France
1994 - Autoportraits, 1st Rencontres Africaines de la Photograhie, Bamako, Mali
2022 - Samuel Fosso: Encontrarse en el otro, Museo del Canal, Panama City, Panama
2022 - Samuel Fosso, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Germany
2022 - Samuel Fosso: African Spirits, The Menil Collection, Houston, USA – in conjunction with the 2022 FotoFest Biennial and African Cosmologies Redux
2022 - Samuel Fosso, The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm, Germany ; Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2021 - Samuel Fosso, Maison européeenne de la photographie, Paris, France
2018 - Samuel Fosso. An African Odyssey, PHotoEspaña, Centro Cultural de la Villa Fernan Gomez, Madrid, Spain
2017 - Transitions: Samuel Fosso dans la collection du FRAC Réunion, Maison Bédier, Piton Saint Leu, France
2017 - Samuel Fosso: Self-Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
2015 - Looting / Pillage, Paris Photo, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2014 - Samuel Fosso, The Walther Collection Project Space, New York, USA
2014 - Emperor of Africa, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2014 - ALLONZENFANS, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2013 - Samuel Fosso, Purdy Hicks Gallery, London, UK
2013 - Samuel Fosso: African Spirits, The Emperor of Africa, 4th LagosPhoto Festival, Nigeria
2010 - 30 ans d’autoportraits, Maison des Arts et de la Culture, Créteil, France
2010 - Samuel Fosso, autoportraits 1970-2008, Institut Français, Dakar, Senegal; N’Djamena, Chad; Harare, Zimbabwe; Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; Antananarivo, Madagascar
2008 - African Spirits, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2008 - Autoportraits, Photoink, New Delhi, India
2008 - Autorretratos, Festival de La Luz, Maman Fine Art Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2008 - Vous serez beau, chic, délicat et facile à reconnaître. Autoportraits. Sélection de Christian Lacroix », Les Ateliers des Forges, 39th Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles, France
2007 - Samuel Fosso. Monographie, 7th Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali
2007 - Samuel Fosso, Vol. II Tati series, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2007 - Samuel Fosso, Vol. I Le Rêve de mon Grand-Père series, jean marc patras / galerie, Paris, France
2005 - Autoportraits, Platform for Art, London Underground, Gloucester Road Station, UK
2004 - Samuel Fosso, Istituto Centrale per la Grafica – Calcografia, Roma, Italy; Centro Internazionale di Fotografia Scavi Scaligeri, Verona, Italy
2003 - Samuel Fosso, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2003 - Autoretratos, PHotoEspaña, NosOtros, Madrid, Spain
1999 - Galerie Maï Ollivier, Paris, France
1997 - Samuel Fosso. Photographs, Greengrassi Gallery, London, UK
1997 - L’Abattoir, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
1996 - Galerie du Théâtre, Gap, France
1996 - Artothèque de Grenoble, France
1995 - Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France
1994 - Autoportraits, 1st Rencontres Africaines de la Photograhie, Bamako, Mali
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
Cosmogony. Zinsou, an African art collection, Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen, the Netherlands
Shifting Dialogues. Photography from The Walther Collection », K21, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
Afro-Atlantic Histories, National Gallery of Art, Washington & LACMA, Los Angeles, USA (until Sept. 2023)
2021
Cosmogonies. Zinsou, an African art collection, MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain, France
Afro-Atlantic Histories, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
neuf-3. Un projet d’art public à Saint-Denis, curated by Riason Naidoo, Saint-Denis, France
This World is White No Longer. Views of a Decentered World, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria
Masculinities : Liberation through Photography, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany ; LUMA Foundation Arles ; FOMU, Antwerp, Belgium
2020
Staging Identity, Mathildenhöhe Institut, Darmstadt, Germany
Crossing Views. Nouveau choix d’œuvres de la Collection de la Fondation, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
Who is gazing ? (À toi appartient le regard et la liaison infinie entre les choses), musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, France
African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other, FotoFest Biennial, Houston, USA
Masculinities : Liberation through Photography, Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
2019
Age of You, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada
Here We are Today : Das Bild der Welt in Foto – & Videokunst, Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, Germany
Artistic License : Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
Changing Views – 20 Years of Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands « Encore : Reenactment in Contemporary Photography, J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, USA
Your Mirror: Portraits from the ICP Collection, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
2018
Claude Samuel Zanele (Claude Cahun, Samuel Fosso, Zanele Muholi), Fotomuseum Antwerp, Belgium
Structures of Identity : Photography from The Walther Collection, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico; Museo MARCO, Monterrey, Mexico; Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Foto Colectania, Barcelona, Spain
From Africa to the Americas : Face-to-face Picasso, Past and Present, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada « DRAG: Self-portraits and Body Politics, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
Talisman in the Age of Difference, curated by Yinka Shonibare MBE, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK
Mistaken Identities : Images of Gender and Transformation, The Walter Collection Project Space, New York, USA
Afriques, artistes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, Fondation Clément, Le François, Martinique
2017
Afrofuturism : Transhumans Imagining a New Vision for Africa, Galerie Médina, 11th Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali; Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
chin(A)africa : an interface, James B. Duke House, New York, USA
Regimes of Truth, 8th LagosPhoto Festival, Nigeria
What Does the Image Stand For ?, MOMENTA / Biennale de l’image, Montreal, Canada
After the Fact : Propaganda in the 21st Century, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich, Germany
Unfinished Conversations : New Work from the Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
10 years old », Fondazione Fotografia Modena, Italy
When the Heavens Meet the Earth. Selected Works from Sina Jina Collection of Contemporary Art, Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge, UK
2016
Made You Look : Dandyism and Black Masculinity, Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK
Où poser la tête ?, FRAC Réunion and Institut d’Art Contemporain de l’Océan Indien, Port Louis, Mauritius Island
The Expanded Subject : New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, USA
Portrait de l’artiste en alter, FRAC Haute-Normandie, Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France
A History. Contemporary Art from the Centre Pompidou, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, London, UK
Regard sur la photographie africaine, curated by Françoise Huguier, Fondation Blachère, Apt, France
2015
In and Out of the Studio : Photographic Portraits from West Africa, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
You love me, you love me not, Fundação Sindika Dokolo, Porto, Portugal
Après Eden: The Walther Collection, La maison rouge, Paris, France
Folk art africain ? Créations contemporaines en Afrique subsaharienne, FRAC Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France
In the Studio : Photographs, curated by Peter Galassi, Gagosian Gallery, New York, USA
Cosmogony. Zinsou, an African art collection, Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen, the Netherlands
Shifting Dialogues. Photography from The Walther Collection », K21, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
Afro-Atlantic Histories, National Gallery of Art, Washington & LACMA, Los Angeles, USA (until Sept. 2023)
2021
Cosmogonies. Zinsou, an African art collection, MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain, France
Afro-Atlantic Histories, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
neuf-3. Un projet d’art public à Saint-Denis, curated by Riason Naidoo, Saint-Denis, France
This World is White No Longer. Views of a Decentered World, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria
Masculinities : Liberation through Photography, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany ; LUMA Foundation Arles ; FOMU, Antwerp, Belgium
2020
Staging Identity, Mathildenhöhe Institut, Darmstadt, Germany
Crossing Views. Nouveau choix d’œuvres de la Collection de la Fondation, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
Who is gazing ? (À toi appartient le regard et la liaison infinie entre les choses), musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, France
African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other, FotoFest Biennial, Houston, USA
Masculinities : Liberation through Photography, Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
2019
Age of You, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada
Here We are Today : Das Bild der Welt in Foto – & Videokunst, Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, Germany
Artistic License : Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
Changing Views – 20 Years of Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands « Encore : Reenactment in Contemporary Photography, J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, USA
Your Mirror: Portraits from the ICP Collection, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
2018
Claude Samuel Zanele (Claude Cahun, Samuel Fosso, Zanele Muholi), Fotomuseum Antwerp, Belgium
Structures of Identity : Photography from The Walther Collection, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico; Museo MARCO, Monterrey, Mexico; Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Foto Colectania, Barcelona, Spain
From Africa to the Americas : Face-to-face Picasso, Past and Present, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada « DRAG: Self-portraits and Body Politics, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
Talisman in the Age of Difference, curated by Yinka Shonibare MBE, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK
Mistaken Identities : Images of Gender and Transformation, The Walter Collection Project Space, New York, USA
Afriques, artistes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, Fondation Clément, Le François, Martinique
2017
Afrofuturism : Transhumans Imagining a New Vision for Africa, Galerie Médina, 11th Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, Bamako, Mali; Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
chin(A)africa : an interface, James B. Duke House, New York, USA
Regimes of Truth, 8th LagosPhoto Festival, Nigeria
What Does the Image Stand For ?, MOMENTA / Biennale de l’image, Montreal, Canada
After the Fact : Propaganda in the 21st Century, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich, Germany
Unfinished Conversations : New Work from the Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
10 years old », Fondazione Fotografia Modena, Italy
When the Heavens Meet the Earth. Selected Works from Sina Jina Collection of Contemporary Art, Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge, UK
2016
Made You Look : Dandyism and Black Masculinity, Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK
Où poser la tête ?, FRAC Réunion and Institut d’Art Contemporain de l’Océan Indien, Port Louis, Mauritius Island
The Expanded Subject : New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, USA
Portrait de l’artiste en alter, FRAC Haute-Normandie, Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France
A History. Contemporary Art from the Centre Pompidou, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, London, UK
Regard sur la photographie africaine, curated by Françoise Huguier, Fondation Blachère, Apt, France
2015
In and Out of the Studio : Photographic Portraits from West Africa, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
You love me, you love me not, Fundação Sindika Dokolo, Porto, Portugal
Après Eden: The Walther Collection, La maison rouge, Paris, France
Folk art africain ? Créations contemporaines en Afrique subsaharienne, FRAC Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France
In the Studio : Photographs, curated by Peter Galassi, Gagosian Gallery, New York, USA
Awards
2018 - ICP Infinity Award, category Art, New York, USA
2018 - PHotoESPAÑA Award, Madrid, Spain
2001 - Prince Claus Fund Award, Den Hague, The Netherlands
2000 - Dak’Art First prize for photography, Dakar, Senegal
1995 - Afrique en Création, Paris, France
2018 - PHotoESPAÑA Award, Madrid, Spain
2001 - Prince Claus Fund Award, Den Hague, The Netherlands
2000 - Dak’Art First prize for photography, Dakar, Senegal
1995 - Afrique en Création, Paris, France
