Artist Profile

Florent Houessou is a Beninese contemporary visual artist based in Cotonou, Benin. Working across textile collage, mixed media, painting, and assemblage, his practice explores memory, identity, cultural transmission, and the transformation of everyday materials. Combining fragments of African fabrics, discarded plastic bags, paint, and other materials gathered from his immediate environment, he creates layered compositions that connect personal histories with broader cultural experiences. Childhood memories and traditional games are central to his exploration of how individual and collective identities are formed and reshaped over time. Through fragmented figures, textures, and material contrasts, Houessou reflects on family histories, social relationships, belonging, and cultural continuity. By reimagining familiar and discarded materials, he creates visual narratives that bring the past into dialogue with contemporary life, highlighting the resilience of cultural memory amid social change.