BIOGRAPHY

Geraud B. Cledjo is a Canadian-Benino painter, whose work draws from the richness of African identity to create a universal and deeply human artistic expression. Through a distinctive artistic approach, he develops a unique pictorial language where memory, childhood, spirituality, and contemporary storytelling intersect.

A visionary, Geraud doesn’t just paint,he has created his own alphabet, an original symbolic script that forms the foundation of his visual universe. These signs, glyphs, and symbols are at once secret codes, expressions of identity, and bridges between tradition and modernity. They make up a personal visual grammar through which he reconstructs cultural, poetic, and political narratives.

His work is rooted in an aesthetic of trace and gesture: the imprint of the hand, a recurring element in his paintings, becomes a mark of humanity, a living memory, and an act of transmission. Nature, childhood, African roots, and imagined futures intertwine in his compositions, which pulse with color, texture, and energy.

Geraud Cledjo has exhibited in numerous cities around the world, including Sherbrooke, Montreal, Toronto, New York, and Miami, as well as at the prestigious Dakar Biennale and during Miami Art Basel.
His international journey reflects the universal reach of his work, while powerfully affirming his deep roots in African culture.

Today, he continues to grow artistically and professionally by collaborating with institutions, foundations, and committed partners to promote contemporary African art, reach collectors around the world, and inspire a new generation of creative minds.

I paint instinctively, guided by emotion, life, and the energies that surround me. Each canvas is born from an inner dialogue between nature, memory, and spirituality. My gesture is spontaneous, almost meditative, it translates what I feel about the world, its beauty, its pain, and its constant rebirths.

Nature deeply inspires me. It teaches me balance and movement. Its rhythms find their way into my work through colors, materials, and textures. When I paint, music, especially the sound of the kora, accompanies me. Its soothing vibrations connect me to my roots and to the universal energy that flows through all living things.

At the heart of my work lies my symbolic alphabet, a personal and poetic writing system that bridges African memory and contemporary vision. These signs become bridges between the visible and the invisible, between tradition and modernity.

To paint, for me, is to celebrate life, to let the hand and the soul speak freely in a universal language of color, gesture, and light.

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