For the past few years, the Cameroonian artist has been attracting much attention, above all for his sculptures and expansive installations. He often consolidates the symbolic value of certain artefacts in order to make statements that bares very directly on specific social conditions. He works pictorially, builds morbid sculptures and often uses "garbage" in his installations, which not infrequently present shocking worlds populated with eerie and very expressive figures. Most of these subjects seem more dead than alive, and all have woe written across their faces. Pharmaceutical cartons frequently feature as important design elements in Malam's work. The artist reflects experiences with extraordinary energy and through his pieces, projects his own conception of the "reality of life." In his own estimation, his work is concerned with reality, with the suffering and inequality in the world and with the continued existence of slavery.
He wants to provoke the viewer and shock them with the blatant terror that he himself has helped create and from which he, along with all of us, too often deliberately averts our eyes to.
Malam was born in Douala, Cameroon in 1967. He currently lives and works in France.
Malam’s Paris exhibition was a huge success; 600 spectators from the realm of politics and culture attended the opening under the Pont Alexandre III along with countless other visitors during the show.
With prison and missing papers in the past, Malam has now achieved the status of "tolerated" in France and can hope, with broad support, to soon be a "free" man. In the meantime, he has created a Cabinet of Horrors consisting of approximately 50 figures.
A film by Dominique Malaquais and Patrick Brunie as well as an interview with Christian Hanussek has been posted on Youtube.
A new documentary at YouTube: Malam by Dominique Malaquais, Patrick Brunie and Clement Juillard
Two documentary films made in 2007 and 2008 from Patrick Bruni about Malam can be seen at the Gallery Herrmann | http://www.galerie-herrmann.com/arts/aktuelleng.htm
Here is an interview with the artist. If you are an artist you must have something to say! This interview is a fanastic example of the eloquence of the artist who seems to be almost rapping:
Interview by Christian Hanussek with Malam at YouTube - Traverser Cette Barrière
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