Former student of the National Institute of Arts and Cultural Action of Abidjan, Marcelin K. Yao is a Franco-Ivorian artist born on February 28, 1984 in Côte d'Ivoire. His course at the Beaux-Arts of Abidjan will be devoted to a speciality in Painting. He will also have a good knowledge of computer graphics software. Moreover, in his race towards the fusion between the Plastic Arts that he studies, and the New Techniques of Information and Communication, he will be very quickly recruited by the French company of communication and computer graphics ARAMIS. Major of the 2011 promotion of the Fine Arts of Abidjan, his talent leads him very early to be selected for the 7th edition of the exhibition BICICI Amie des ARTS, which was held from September 27 to October 28, 2011 in Abidjan. Since then other exhibitions have followed: "BICICI amie des arts 2012" (Abidjan, Ivory Coast), Art et Nature katadji 2012 /2013 (KATADJI, Ivory Coast)....

Winner of the first Benianh International Foundation Arts Competition in September 2014, Marcelin YAO was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the School of Fine Arts in Tourcoing, France.

Today, Marcelin is a graduate of the fine arts school in Tourcoing, France. He works and lives in DAX.

This series is the result of an approach that places man at the center of my creations. I am inspired by everything that happens around me. As a person, I am extremely sensitive. And this sensitivity finds its refuge in pictorial expression. My current paintings are the result of concerns I feel. Through my paintings, I express with the greatest sincerity the situations of the everyday life which are in connection with various problems. I am sensitive for example to the subject of childhood because I myself had a difficult childhood. This is why in many of my works I deal with the subject of childhood. I am also touched by violence against women. I am also sensitive to the issues of the environment which is progressively deteriorating. There are a lot of things that I have a lot of questions about. These issues are part of our daily lives and the media are talking about them. But I don't see any improvement. For my part as an artist, I found it natural to raise these questions through my work. This means of expression suits me because through it, I create a space for discussion on these issues.

Technically, I merge ink stains, collage and drawings on canvas. I try to find the way of an originality which has for goal not to leave indifferent the spectator. My pictorial research puts forward sensible subjects on supports sometimes loaded with materials. My work is also inspired by the "no finito", an Italian trend that emphasizes the incompleteness of the work of art. I would like to turn this way of working into a singular pictorial writing that draws its strength from contemporary issues.

My objective is explicit. I would like the spectator to be attracted by the originality of the work and then to be questioned in depth by it. I think that a contemporary work has the duty to provoke reflections, criticisms and proposals of ideas aiming at improving the conditions of life of the man.