Pain is what we do best. Painting

Derick Gnonlonfoun is a Beninese-French contemporary visual artist whose distinctive style, Abstract Fulguration, captures the luminous intersections of culture, identity, and emotion. His work explores the complex beauty of belonging; the tension and harmony that arise from navigating multiple worlds. Drawing deeply from his experiences as an expatriate, Gnonlonfoun weaves together vibrant color fields, symbolic motifs, and intricate patterns inspired by the diverse places he has called home. Central to his artistic inquiry is the notion of double consciousness, a concept introduced by W.E.B. Du Bois to describe the dual perspective of living between dominant and marginalized cultures. Through this lens, his work becomes both a self-portrait and a mirror for collective reflection. Each painting in Gnonlonfoun’s practice invites viewers to pause, feel, and question to explore how identity is shaped by movement, memory, and cultural encounter. His art seeks not only to express but to connect: a dialogue between the self and the world, rendered in radiant abstraction.