Max Lyonga against hunger

Although Cameroon seems to have many artists, I had to chose Max Lyonga to represent this country in my All 55 African Countries project because of his use of painting for the benefit of others. In his early thirties, Max Lyonga has partnered with the Word Bank to end poverty. This was not the first time Lyonga has tried to change the world around him through his painting. It was a pleasure to discover this young painter from the Cameroon, I wish him the best success as on top of it all his paintings are so good.

The painting above, The Child, has been sold, but other artwork can be purchased at Lyonga's page at Artnet. Here is his contacts, also provided by Artnet:

Contact:
Max LYONGA
Buea, Cameroun
Tel. : ++ 237 998.60.01 / Cellphone: ++237 748.26.75
E-mail: maxlyonga@yahoo.com

And a shot bio:

Born on the 12th of June 1968 in Tiko, in southwestern Cameroon, Max Lyonga Sako is a Cameroonian painter based in Buea, in his province of origin. His love affair with art began early in life and his father's death led him to embark upon an artistic career. He began painting in the impressionist style. He later met German tourists practicing abstract art which became a dominant aspect of his work. Max Lyonga received his art training at workshops run by the Franco-Cameroonian Alliance cultural center in Buea and at other French-run cultural centers in the country. He is today fascinated by mixed painting techniques, collage, acrylics , natural materials and gouache. He also works with cast-off objects of every description and has explored installations, routinely making use of canvas, plywood, tin sheets and even walls as supports for his art. He favors social aspects of life, the environment, intimate scenes and feelings in his art, ranging freely from pure abstraction to figurative works.
Max Lyonga has continued to enter his works at national plastic arts competitions, winning an "Épi d'argent" art prize in December 2002. A prolific and socially conscious artist, he contributed a work of his at a benefit auction for children affected by Aids. He also set up a facility for contemporary art called Magic Stick at the Franco-Cameroonian Alliance in Buea, where he opened his own exhibition space, Coha Gallery, in May 2004.

---

Read an article about Lyonga here, at the Bakwerirama website: "Introducing Max Sako Lyonga: The Man with the Golden Brush" By Dibussi Tande

And an article by the Belgian Cooperation about Lyonga's work with street children here. The results, paintings by the children, are quite astounding as we can see here. Below is my favorite one:

And here some links to other Cameroonian painters. What a haven Cameroon is in Africa. May be that is why so many refugees have escaped from neighboring Chad and Congo.