Jean David Nkot est né en 1989 à Douala (Cameroun), où il vit et travaille.

En 2000, il commence  à apprendre la vannerie avec  Merlin Teffolo, le premier artiste qu’il rencontre. Parallèlement, il croise le chemin de K. Viking, qui en 2006 le pousse à intégrer un établissement d’enseignement secondaire d’études artistiques, l’IFA (Institut de Formation Artistique) de Mbalmayo. Il y obtient en 2007 un C.A.P en décoration, en 2009 son probatoire AF2, et en 2010 son baccalauréat AF2. Durant ce parcours, il fait  la rencontre de l’artiste Jean-Jacques Kanté, qui, en tant que parrain, l’aide à améliorer sa technique. Il s’inscrit ensuite  à IBAF (Institut des Beaux Arts de Foumban) en 2010, d’où il sort avec une licence en 2013.  Il a été président des arts plastiques à l’Institut des Beaux-Arts de Foumban en 2011-2012.

Ses thèmes de prédilection sont la violence, l’indifférence et la passivité de la communauté internationale et des gouvernements face aux victimes. Il structure sa démarche artistique autour d’autres thèmes tels que l’affranchissement, l’immigration, la paix et les questions de mémoire. Il espère, grâce à son travail, une prise de conscience de ces maux par le public, une recherche de solutions et une incitation à la paix.

S’il a visité l’installation et la performance, il explore en peinture, son medium habituel, la technique du pochoir, de l’écriture de textes en surimpression sur des visages violentés. Loin d’attirer l’attention du contemplateur sur l’identité de la personne représentée, il met plutôt en exergue, à la manière de Zhang Dali, Francis Bacon et Jenny Saville, l’expression de la tourmente qui habite «ses » personnages.

Jean David Nkot was born in 1989 in Douala, Cameroon, where he lives and works.
His family is very religious and doesn’t encourage him in art, with the exception of his uncle and grandmother. He became interested in art in 2000, through a ‘wake up’ picture from Jehovah’s witnesses that seduced him. That same year, he begins to learn basketry with Merlin Teffolo, the first artist he meets. In 2004-2005, he continued his studies at a secondary school for general education.
At the same time, he crosses paths with K. Viking, who in 2006 leads him to incorporate a secondary school of artistic studies, IFA (Institut de Formation Artistique) of Mbalmayo, Hervé Youmbi and his uncle encourage this. In 2007, he recieved a professional diploma in decoration, in 2009 his probationary AF2, and in 2010 his baccalauréat AF2 qualifications. During his schooling he meets Jean Jacques Kanté, who becomes his mentor and helps him with his technique. He then enrolles at IBAF (Institute of Fine Arts of Foumban) in 2010. He finishes with a degree in 2013.
His favorite themes are the violence, indifference and passivity of the international community and governments regarding the situation of the victims. He structures his artistic approach around other themes such as emancipation, immigration, peace and questions of memory. In his representations, the artist hopes to achieve greater awareness among the public for these ills, a search for solutions and an incentive for peace. “If people were sensitive, things would be different.” His ambition is to break the chains of indifference. The Cameroonian public remains passive and sometimes unresponsive to his work and find it often too violent. On the other hand, others consider his art contemporary and committed.
While he has done installations and performance, his habitual medium is painting. He uses it to explore, with stencil techniques and written text superimposed over violent faces.
Far from drawing the viewer’s attention to the identity of the person being represented, it highlights instead the expression of torment that inhabit ‘his’ characters, like those of Zhang Dali, Francis Bacon or Jenny Saville.
Next to his job as a creative artist, Nkot served other functions in the art world. He was president of the fine arts at the Institut des Beaux-Arts de Foumban in 2011 and 2012. He also teaches drawing and painting to private individuals.