Born 1955, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lives and works in Kinshasa.
Chéri Chérin was born in 1955 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is a megacity of over 10 million inhabitants who often follow the famous “Article 15 of the Constitution,” which encourages the common people to take matters into their own hands—a task they approach with talent, and sometimes with genius. Since the early 1970s, the city has experienced an extraordinary creative explosion across all artistic fields. The musical group Viva la Musica achieved immense popular success; one of its members invented the concept of SAPE (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnalités Élégantes).
Within this vibrant cultural landscape, the painter Chéri Chérin, holding one of the most prestigious positions in Kinshasa’s artistic community, proclaimed himself a “Unique, Outstanding, Incomparable Expressionist Creator” (C.H.E.R.IN). Chérin places equal importance on subject, form, representation, legibility, and decoration. His work denounces a world in which opportunism and superficiality threaten to overshadow true values—values he champions and communicates through his paintings.