FLORENCE BÉAL-NÉNAKWÉ / LYON FRANCE - ISSUE 2/ June 2006

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Carnaval Africain

Le Passage

Florence Béal-Nénakwé: a Cameronian painter. Everything is original in her; her personality, her language, her spirit and, of course, her painting.

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Florence has the name of a queen of her country. For this reason, she had the privilege to spend her spare time and her holidays childhood in Chefferie Bangangté-City. There, she visited, made acquaintance, and then integrated diverse sources of inspirations into herself: from the largest collections of masks made of wood or earth, the strangest coloured motifs which literally animated the cabins of the wives of the king, to the necklaces with geometrical forms tattooed on the neck of her aunt. The initiation, in the most beautiful meaning of the word started. Then, back home, although she was just a child, Florence tried to reproduce the forms and the colors which had dazzled her. Not to mention the mockeries of her friends in the classroom. Then, Florence closed up again, like an oyster, in order to avoid being the laughing stock of these people who surrounded her and whom, however, she loved.

Afrique Ma Guitare

La Marathonienne Au Masque

Then, she forgot all this. Until the day when, ten or so years later, she became aware of what she really was: a woman with a clear mind, with lots of integrity, a woman in love with her roots. Without her knowing it, these roots had given rise to a fantastic life-giving power. The spirit of creation she had as an adult prolonged the initiation she got in her childhood.

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From now on, Florence paints in spite of herself. She paints. She paints. She does not stop. The flood of images she contained during all these years pours out in the life of today. All these images of childhood, the sun, nature and humanity arise now with an astonishing maturity: the beauty of the forms, the pure expression of the colors, their free, playful sensuality. What a splendid lesson of life!

Le Roi Africain

Sainte Marie M Re De Dieu

But let us not be misled. Florence does not copy; She imitates nothing or nobody. The internal energy from her native Cameroun and her personal life are enough to make her express this cheerfulness and this hope on a canvas. An artist who marked the history of Art stated: "I do not seek, I find". We knew the sources of his esthetic way and today we know what he found. Thus we know where Florence Béal-Néanakwé has the wisdom and the talent to keep on seeking. She's still the one it is about today.

Guy Lefevre. Director of Luminier (Cultural space of Chassieu near Lyon)