From February 13 to April 4, 2026, 21Art presents in Treviso a solo exhibition by Pascale Marthine Tayou (Nkongsamba, Cameroon, 1966), one of the most influential voices in the international contemporary art scene.
The exhibition marks the beginning of a collaboration between 21Art and Galleria Continua, long a point of reference for the artist and his work. It also aligns with the strategy of 21Art — a benefit corporation founded by Alessandro Benetton based on a project by entrepreneur Davide Vanin — which aims to develop national and international partnerships as a means of supporting and promoting contemporary artistic research.
The exhibition traces a journey through memory, identity, and geopolitics, mapping the shifting relationship between humanity and otherness that lies at the core of Pascale Marthine Tayou’s practice.
Active since the early 1990s and internationally recognized for his participation in Documenta 11 and several editions of the Venice Biennale, Tayou lives and works between Ghent and Yaoundé. His open and multifaceted practice spans sculpture, installation, drawing, video, and textile art, and is grounded in a deliberate refusal of any fixed geographic or cultural belonging. Tayou’s work is rooted in the awareness that identity, power, and tradition are social and symbolic constructs, constantly subject to transformation. The notion of travel — both physical and mental — and the experience of encountering the Other are central to his artistic research, which critically engages with the dynamics of the “global village.”
At the beginning of his career, Tayou added an “e” to both his first and middle names, giving them a feminine ending as a playful gesture intended to distance himself from patriarchal artistic authority and rigid gender roles. This resistance also extends to any attempt to confine his practice to a specific cultural or geographic origin — a position clearly reflected in the diversity and strength of the works presented at 21Art Treviso.
The exhibition brings together a significant selection of emblematic works spanning a wide range of media.
Tug of War stages a symbolic confrontation between two bronze figures, ironically subverting traditional power dynamics and prompting reflection on gender relations and geopolitical imbalances. With a tone of irony, the title alludes to historical tensions between Western powers and African societies, transforming the duel into a space for reflection on complementarity, power, and the subtle reversal of dominant structures.
The Eseka series originates from a local event — the site of a train derailment in the town of Eseka, about 100 kilometers from Yaoundé — to create a universal metaphor. These works represent spaces that simultaneously welcome and repel, moving within the fragile territory between desire, trauma, and aspiration.
Completing the exhibition path, Poupées Pascale and Bantu Towels introduce a more intimate and narrative dimension. Through materials such as crystal, stitched textiles, and everyday objects, Tayou constructs hybrid forms that foster dialogue between cultures, memories, and symbols. The act of sewing and assembling places the domestic sphere at the center of the creative process, transforming it into a site of collaboration, transmission, and renewal.
Initiated in 2012, the Charcoal Frescoes are compositions that combine a decorative aesthetic with a critical reading of the contemporary world. Beneath their apparent formal beauty, these charcoal works function as sharp political reflections, addressing themes such as resource extraction, labor relations, and consumption. Alongside these recent Charcoal Frescoes, Tayou also presents a series of new chalk frescoes. Chalk and charcoal are two fundamental materials in Pascale Marthine Tayou’s practice, here brought into dialogue to emphasize the material continuity and coherence of his artistic research. The exhibition includes very recent works from both series, underscoring their ongoing relevance, as well as an unpublished Charcoal Fresco, presented for the first time in Treviso.
Taken as a whole, the exhibition reveals a complex and layered practice in which aesthetic experimentation is inseparable from social and political critique. Tayou’s work becomes a space of encounter and awareness, capable of addressing contemporary tensions while inviting renewed forms of interpretation and dialogue.
Pascale Marthine Tayou
February 13 - April 4, 2026
21Art in collaboration with Galleria Continua
Viale della Repubblica 3, Villorba (TV)