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Graduating in 2013 from the National School of Fine Arts in Brazzaville (Congo), Yvanovitch Mbaya then continued his training at the University of Lomé (Togo), specialising in art psychology.
In parallel to his institutional studies, and from 2011 onwards, he becomes the assistant and apprentice of the artist Bill Kouélany (first African woman to be programmed at documenta 12, Kassel 2007) who passes on to him his theoretical and practical knowledge of the Arts as well as numerous pieces of advice which clarify and enrich his plastic commitment and his work discipline.
In 2012, his singular work was noticed and appreciated by many professionals, notably during the first two editions of the RIAC (International Contemporary Art Meetings) organised by the Ateliers SAHM in Brazzaville, where he was awarded the Goddy Leye prize for painting, which notably granted him a residency at the Art Bakery in Douala (Cameroon).
In 2013, he participated in the Atelier Contraste in Brazzaville, then in the Festival Étonnants Voyageurs alongside Frantz Zéphirin, one of the main painters of the Haitian School.
Mbaya then travelled across the continent to pursue his research into traditional religions that sacralise the aquatic elements. He presented some of the works resulting from this theme linked to the figure of Mami Wata and Voodoo more generally at the Goethe Institute in Lomé in 2014.
In 2015, he decided to settle and set up his studio in Casablanca (Morocco). Since then, he has participated in important and landmark group exhibitions: United Artists (Off 1-54, Marrakech 2020), curated by Syham Weigant and which brought together all the Moroccan artists in an exhaustive manner; The day after (Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Emirates 2020) curated by the Star Simon Njami in an unprecedented format in spite of the pandemic crisis; Le Pinceau de l’intégration (Fondation Sonatel, Off Biennale Dak’art 2022), which accompanies the great comeback of the Pan-African Biennale.
Gâta Bantu is the artist’s first Solo Show, it constitutes a coherent set of unpublished works considered and produced for this eventful exhibition at the CDA Gallery, which allows us to meet Yvanovitch Mbaya and his work, which has reached a beautiful mastery and great maturity.
