FAYUMBA, 2025
Julien Vignikin, born in 1966 in Ouidah, Benin, is a Franco-Beninese artist who lives and works between Auxerre and Ouidah. Graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Dijon, he develops an engaged art, addressing social issues such as inequalities, migration and overconsumption. His work draws from African traditions while building bridges between the French and Beninese cultures. Julien Vignikin is best known for his contemporary masks, made from staves of wine barrels recovered in Burgundy, which symbolize this cultural duality. His works oscillate between figuration and abstraction, influenced by abstract expressionism and Arte povera, integrating recycled materials. He uses both oil and acrylic in his paintings.
One of his emblematic pieces, *The Dinner of Ghosts*, exhibited in 2014 at the Dapper museum, is an installation that criticizes overconsumption and food inequalities around the world. Through this work, he highlights social disparities by using symbolic and inaccessible materials.
Influenced by figures such as Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys, Julien Vignikin transcends cultural boundaries, questioning contemporary challenges with an artistic approach that connects abstraction, symbolism and social commitment.
One of his emblematic pieces, *The Dinner of Ghosts*, exhibited in 2014 at the Dapper museum, is an installation that criticizes overconsumption and food inequalities around the world. Through this work, he highlights social disparities by using symbolic and inaccessible materials.
Influenced by figures such as Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys, Julien Vignikin transcends cultural boundaries, questioning contemporary challenges with an artistic approach that connects abstraction, symbolism and social commitment.