King Houndekpinkou imagines a multiverse of ‘Six Prayers’ at Southern Guild

Franco-Beninois artist King Houndekpinkou’s six large-scale ceramic sculptures articulate Six Prayers at Southern Guild, Cape Town, on view from June 6 - August 22, 2024. The artist produced these pieces over eight weeks as part of the GUILD Residency in Cape Town, South Africa.

Known for his unique vocabulary of shapes, textures and colours, Houndekpinkou’s work thrives on 'unexpected hybrids,' reflecting a diasporic perspective that transcends cultural boundaries. Also characterised by 'syncretism'—the fusion of sundry traditions, beliefs or practices into a fresh, cohesive whole—his innovative practice combines tradition and ancient spirituality with contemporary techniques, deeply influenced by Japanese and West African cultures and underpinned by a philosophy of interdependence. The ongoing art exhibition thus "fuses a variety of traditions with future possibilities to offer new myths to new gods, complete with their own ritualistic objects," according to Southern Guild.

Born in Montreuil, France, to Beninese parents, the ceramic artist grew up in the suburbs of Paris, his cultural exposure often informed by self-discovery. As an adolescent, his interest in Japanese pop culture, anime and video games led him to visit Japan in 2012, sparking an interest in the country's ancestral pottery, whose ceremonial craftsmanship and Shintoism deeply resonated with the animism of Beninese Voudou.

Houndekpinkou learnt the 'meditative art' of wheel-thrown ceramics from master potter Shibuta Toshiaki in Bizen—one of the six ancient kilns of Japan known as the Roku Koyō. He imbues a deep spiritual intent into his creative process, crafting forms stacked and clustered into "sculptural totems in which function dissolves into dysfunction," the gallery observes.

The six sculptural art pieces (also referred to as 'vessels by Houndekpinkou) are imagined as 'super realities in the same multiverse' for the solo exhibition. Presenting as unexpectedly visually striking due to the tasteful integration of colour and texture, the six vessels hint at something beyond our known universe. "The texture makes the colour come alive. I want to make pieces that look like they’re living, moving and breathing," Houndekpinkou asserts.

For Six Prayers, the contemporary artist gives clay forms to these vessels which are curved into smooth precision, reflecting sacred geometries disrupted by shocks of colour, sharp stalks and crackling glazes. Tiny, coral-like fingers extend from the cavernous body of a large vessel of royal, marbled blues. The glazes and tints are crafted into precise, customised formulations, as 'potions to activate and energise.'

Houndekpinkou employs several painting techniques for his contemporary artworks, from brushing and spraying to drizzling, wherein a bulb syringe lavishly drips paint on his vessels, a recurring motif reminiscent of candle wax and libations splattered on ritual altars in Voudou. Some glazes crackle, hinting at hidden treasures, while other areas are thick with tint, leaving parts of the clay naked and vulnerable. Teasing biomimicry, spikes mimic natural forms like thorns, protecting the vessel and preserving some of its beauty for itself.

The exhibited pieces of glazed stoneware and acrylic are inspired by rituals and practices that have fascinated the sculpture artist over the years. Embodying Houndekpinkou’s textural ambitions, The New Deities’ Platter: Enough for All the Gods to Eat is a tentacle-covered, poly-hued bowl referencing offerings of food made to deities. The artist expounds on the vessel’s state of 'abundance' by remarking, "There is enough food for all the gods to eat."

"Houndekpinkou’s guiding philosophy, the interdependence and divine nature inherent in all aspects of life is evidenced in his approach to this body of work. Through alchemical processes of clay-making and new forms of magic, sacred geometries meet fractals from the future. He juxtaposes smooth against rough, matt against gloss, rounded shapes against angular forms and spikes that repel next to tentacles that reach out and attract. That draw in as they rebuff," describes the gallery.

With these multifaceted, dynamic vessels, King Houndekpinkou brings elements of philosophy, mysticism and science together through Six Prayers.