Boris Nzebo, né à Port-Gentil (Gabon) en 1979, est un artiste plasticien qui vit et travaille à Douala (Cameroun).

Il a commencé sa carrière artistique par la peinture sur commande d’enseignes de salons de coiffure et de beauté. Cette initiation par la peinture publicitaire marque son identité artistique. Autodidacte, il s’est formé auprès des artistes Koko Komégné, Hervé Yamguen et Goddy Leye. En 2007, il effectue une résidence à ArtBakery, à Bonendale-Douala, au cours de laquelle il se frotte à différents mediums : vidéo, photo, installation et performance. À l’Espace doual’art, il est l’assistant d’artistes tels que Faouzi Laatiris (2007), Ato Malinda, Tracy Rose et Mariela Borello (2009) qui par leurs échanges, discussions et projets artistiques, participent à son éducation. Cela lui donne l’occasion de travailler d’autres matériaux et techniques (plastique, peinture corporelle, aluminium, pochoir…)

Par la suite, il affirme sa thématique singulière, qui consiste à explorer la coiffure dans l’espace urbain. Il y voit les signes du rang social, de l’expression d’une pensée, d’une appartenance culturelle. En avril 2008, il présente son travail pour la première fois, au Carré des artistes à Douala. En juin 2009, il participe à l’exposition Jeunes Regards Urbains à l’espace doual’art, avec deux autres jeunes artistes camerounais. À partir de 2010, il participe à de nombreuses autres expositions collectives, au Cameroun et à l’étranger : en 2010 à la Maison Revue Noire (Paris, France) et Savvy Contemporary (Berlin, Allemagne), en 2011 à la Fondation Blachère (Apt, France), puis en 2011 et 2012 à l’Art Paris Art Fair et l’Ifa-Galerie de Berlin. Sa pièce Tête en l’Hair a été présentée dans l’exposition 30 et presque-songes de Joël Andrianomearisoa à l’Espace doual’art. Il a à son actif deux expositions individuelles, In & Out of my head, doual’art (Cameroun, 2010) et Vil-Visages, à l’Institut Français de Yaoundé (Cameroun, 2011). En avril 2013, ses toiles sont présentées par doual’art à la foire internationale d’art contemporain Art Dubai (Doubaï), où elles rencontrent un grand succès. Il est remarqué par la galerie Jack Bell à Londres qui lui offre depuis lors plusieurs expositions collectives dans des foires (1:54 à Londres et à New York)

Boris Nzebo (Port-Gentil, 1979) is a visual artist who lives and works in Douala, Cameroon.
His primary studies took place in Libreville in Gabon. Arriving in Cameroon, he began by custom painting signs for hairdressing and beauty salons. Then he gave that up to devote himself exclusively to art in the early 2000s. Painting for advertising initially has left its mark on his artistic identity
As a self-taught artist, he trained in Douala with artists Koko Komegne, one of the pioneers of contemporary art in Cameroon, Hervé Yamguen and in workshops organized by Goddy Leye, Cameroonian artist (1965-2011), at ArtBakery in Bonendale near Douala, where he did a residency in 2007. During this residency, he mingled with different mediums: video, photo, installation and performance. He also submerged himself into the works of Roy Lichtenstein, Jack Mitchell, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy and Takashi Murakami, whom he particularly likes. At the art space doual’art, he has assisted artists like Faouzi Laatiris (2007), Ato Malinda , Tracy Rose and Mariela Borello (2009), who added to Nzebo’s his education in their exchanges, discussions and artistic projects.
Subsequently, he says his singular theme is to explore hairstyles in the urban space. In them, he sees the signs of social rank, of the expression of a thought, of cultural belonging.
“How do we grasp that our environment is not as well groomed as our heads? When our hair is sick we care for it, but we do nothing to combat corruption, the embezzlement of funds, etc. We put so much effort into the treatment of our hair, why can’t we do the same thing for the problems plaguing us?” Boris intersperses transparent profiles of pretty young women with the décor of precarious habitats.
In April 2008, he presented his work for the first time at the artists’ square in Douala, with a group of six artists on the theme ‘Lady, She go say I be Lady’, inspired by the title of a cult song by Nigerian singer Fela Ramson Kuti about the emancipation of women.
In June 2009, he participated in the exhibition Jeunes Regards Urbains at doual’art, with two other young Cameroonian artists, Landry Mbassi and Man Faust.
From 2010, he has participated in many other collective exhibitions, in Cameroon and abroad: in 2010 the Maison Revue Noire (Paris) and Savvy Contemporary (Berlin), in 2011 to the Blachère Foundation (Apt), then in 2011 and 2012 at Art Paris Art Fair and the Ifa-Galerie (Berlin). His piece Tête en l’Hair was presented at the exhibition 30 ET PRESQUE-SONGES by Joël Andrianomearisoa at doual’art.
His work has been exhibited in two one-man shows, one, In & Out of my head, at the SUD2010 in Douala, and the other, at the off program Vil-Vissages, at the Institut Français in Yaoundé in 2011.
In April 2013, his canvases were presented by doual’art at the international fair of contemporary art ART DUBAI, where they were received as a great success. He was noticed by the Jack Bell Gallery of London, which has since offered him a spot at several collective exhibitions at fairs (1:54 in London and New York).