Paris, France —Walking through twisting trees of gold in a sacred forest. Colorful masked gods, souls merging into life. The works of French photographer Eric Bottero and Benin-born journalist and photographer Gopal Amah dialogue in a colorful, thought provoking, imaginative exhibition at the Galerie Vallois in Paris. It was in Benin, the land of voodoo, a spectacular land, that the two artists worked around themes linked to the sacred. The result is a highly visual experience into mysterious worlds. 

For Eric Bottero this meant his work in the sacred forest of Ouidah in Benin, known as the Kpassé and a major center of voodoo, which he rendered in black and white tryptic photographs which were then printed on gold leaf, offering up a world of mystery and legend. Meanwhile Gopal Amah photographed the Égungún, an ancestral ritual of masks and costumes that weaves into one place the living and the dead within the Yoruba communities of West Africa. For the Yoruba people, the soul of the ancestors is incarnated by masked figures outfitted with splendid colorful costumes. The photographs, a series called Of Masks and Gods, use light play and the juxtaposition of sumptuous materials to create a dream-like and mysterious atmosphere. 

This sacred journey is being played out at the Galerie Vallois, 41 rue de Seine 75006 Paris, until December 2nd. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.galerierobertvallois.fr/modernecontemporain