ANJEL

Boris Anje Tabufor, or Anjel, was born in Bamenda, Cameroon, in 1993. As a child he was introduced to art and design, by his cousin, the artist Samuel Njomke. In 2012, Anjel enrolled at the Institut des Beaux-Arts in Foumban, where was awarded a vocational degree in painting and drawing and a Master’s in 2018. It was during his time there that he began to meet famous artists such as Ruth Afane, Hervé Youmbi and Jean-Jacques Kanté. He also came into contact with contemporary art centre Les Ateliers Sahm, where he met the Dandies.

In 2017, he presented his work at the collective exhibitions “The Congo Dandies” and “African Colours”, held at the Out of Africa Gallery in Barcelona, returning to the city the following year. He has also taken part in Dak’Art OFF at the Dakar Biennale in Senegal and the exhibition “Cameroon: A Contemporary Vision, Act VIII” at the World Bank in Yaoundé. Some of his works now form part of major art collections, among them the permanent art collection at the World Bank in Washington. Through his introspective pieces, Anjel questions the dependence on things and concepts. His work takes its inspiration from the intimate construction of our affections, our attachment, “a force of attraction that creates an active link between two random things”. In analysing our consumer society, its taboos and the masks that conceal or reveal us, Anjel expresses the camouflage of his environment through black, sombre, logo-covered bodies. “In this world of consumerism, the desire to dissimulate emerges as a human need, as a catalyst in our lives.” Anjel shows the body, the individual, in a favourable light, glorified by the words adorning it. The brands have a double meaning: they offer protection, sources of pride linking physical imprints and luxury products. In creating his works, he uses Posca and acrylic pens for his drawings and paintings, as well as digital art and video.