About the Artist

Jean Telly Kongolo was born in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Kinshasa and continued his studies in China and France. In 1997 he settled in Beijing where he opened his own art studio.

Trained as a sculptor, he has also mastered painting, ceramics, design, and silkscreen printing. His source of inspiration is Africa, as evidenced in his sculptures and paintings. His work draws from African art and exudes the style, depth and feeling, as well as the beauty of this rich continent. He is among a group of rare African artists who have maintained the integrity of African art and at the same time succeeded in bringing it to the outside world. Audiences fall under the spell of his sublime work as they connect with the perfection of lines and curves immortalizing the life and romance of Africa.

His themes reflect the state of his own soul; a blend of cultures retaining the originality of a humble man ready to listen to others and to give of himself. As he himself says, art is a means to express his state of being, his time and place, which are all profoundly influenced by society and the current state of the world. The role of the artist is to teach, witness and to defend. The artist is an ambassador of peace, love and solidarity.