Born in 1978, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Lives and works in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Houston Maludi has been drawing since his early years. He made his first drawings with a piece of wood used as a brush and watercolors borrowed from his uncle. Houston Maludi studied at the Académie des Beaux-arts de Kinshasa.
Inspired by the Cubist painters Georges Braques and Pablo Picasso and after years of experimentations and aesthetic research, he develops in 2008 his own personal cubism that he calls "Monochromique Cubism Symbiotique Quantique" and that can be reached through a "symbiosis of shapes". Houston Maludi mainly uses black and white in his work and a continuous line to define both the micro and macro universe. He aims to achieve a perfect and discreet unity of the elements in his works. The same curve can define the shoulder of a character in the foreground and the side of a crowded road at another reading level of his intricate images.
The line expresses life in its dynamism. It endlessly fills up the canvas in a Horror Vacui that evokes at the same time the reality of a crowded city like Kinshasa and the absence of void in the universe. The limited color palette used by the artist accentuates the graphic quality of his work. From far away they almost look like abstract monochromes, before revealing their vivid depictions of cityscapes. « In the symbiotic, error does not exist, If you know how to use it, it becomes a line integrated to the composition of the work ».
Art is for him a quest, he seeks to discover a truth in the infinite universe; his name "Maludi" means freedom. He says he is not the one creating his paintings but on the contrary his works are shaping him and leaving a mark on him. Once a canvas is achieved, he emerges from the creative process as a greater man, more mature, he evolves at the rhythm of his artistic production. "I seek the truth in form because matter is an obstacle to the sight; I pierce it to discover the infinite universe. This is my approach and my philosophy."
Collections
Société Générale, Paris
Fondation Francès, Senlis
CAAC, The Jean Pigozzi Collection, Geneva
