Veins of Amsterdam

Following his presentation at the Stedelijk Museum as one of the four artists nominated for the 2025 Prix de Rome, Thierry Oussou returns to Lumen Travo Gallery with a new solo exhibition.

Thierry Oussou’s distinctive visual language is rendered on large-format black paper. This deliberate choice of material emphasises paper not only as a support, but as a conceptual medium. He leaves it unstretched, allowing folds, curves and irregular shapes to speak of imperfection, movement and the fragility inherent in the human condition.

His expressive compositions consist of drips, splashes, calligraphic marks and distorted figures, faces, objects and symbols that seem to float within dark, expressive spaces.

In his practice, Oussou focuses on marginalised professions, from cotton workers to bus drivers and construction workers, and brings to light the lives and work of people who often remain unseen and undervalued in society. His ongoing project ‘Equilibrium Wind’ centres on cotton: Benin’s main export and a globally traded commodity characterised by inequality.