direction 1 (2022) Painting by Vivien Tapsoba

Born on February 21, 1984, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Vivien Tapsoba is a self-taught contemporary painter. He lives and works in Worcester, Massachusetts. He began his career at a very young age, starting to draw and color at the age of 6, thanks to his mother who worked in a preschool and brought him colored pencils and watercolors to paint with.

After completing primary school in 1995, he continued his studies in high school and decided to pursue both music and painting. However, he later dedicated most of his time to painting and decided to undergo formal training to achieve his goals. In 2000, he started taking drawing classes at the National Center of Handicrafts (CNAA) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

In 2001, he joined the OLORUN Foundation, an institution of contemporary art in Burkina Faso, where he began learning about painting, color mixing, and shapes.

After spending five years at the OLORUN Foundation, where he strengthened his research techniques as part of his artistic approach, he finally found his painting style and participated in one of his first group exhibitions, "The New Wave," in 2005.

That same year, several opportunities arose for him. In 2005, he was selected for the second edition of the project "50 LIONS 50 ARTISTS" by the city of Lyon (France), directed by the OLORUN Foundation.

In 2006, he participated in Dak'Art Off in Senegal at the Embassy of Burkina Faso in Senegal, and also exhibited in Ghana, Denmark, France, Italy, Côte d'Ivoire, Tucson, AZ, Virginia, Florida, and Washington State.

In painting, Vivien Tapsoba's influences include Joan Miró, Jean Dubuffet, Prince Richard, Cy Twombly, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Inspired by daily life and certain current events in his surroundings and the world, he manages to immortalize these events on his canvases through the process of erasing and reconstructing figures and forms, creating a living story in his paintings.

The artist's painting style lies between the figurative world and expressionism.

Sometimes, a painting is left untitled to give art enthusiasts a free field of interpretation.

The painting technique he uses is known as mixed media.

• Nationality: BURKINA FASO
• Date of birth : 1984
• Artistic domains: Works by professional artists,
• Groups: Professional Artist Contemporary Burkinabe Artists