As a young man, Jean Telly Kongolo never wondered about what he would study in college. He knew he would become an artist because that's what his family did for generations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he was born.

"I didn't think of doing something else. Making art, that's what I did all my life," he says. "If something happens and I can't do art, I don't know what I'm going to do."

At age 16, he moved with his family to France and a few years later, he returned to study at the Fine Arts Academy in his native Kinshasa, a school in which he "practically grew up" since his uncle was a director there, he says. In 1997, he traveled to Beijing to pursue a doctorate in art history but like many people, his plans changed.

After two years' studying Chinese language and art in Chinese schools, Kongolo returned to Paris until a company in Beijing offered him a job designing lamps. He held the job for three years and then opened the Kongolo Art Studio in Beijing that featured his sculptures and paintings.

About two years ago, Kongolo, 40, moved the studio to Tianjin because his wife, a teacher, moved there for a job at an international school. Trained as a sculptor, Kongolo has also mastered painting, ceramics, design and silkscreen, all with African themes.

When he's not busy in the studio, Kongolo teaches art to young students in Tianjin.

Kongolo says that initially in China, most of his clients were foreigners since they had more exposure to African art. It took a while for Chinese to understand that foreign art isn't necessarily synonymous with Western art.

"The first couple of years were really difficult for me because I targeted Chinese but I realized Chinese didn't understand what I do," he says. "What I do is African modern art so for them it's something new, so that's why I changed my target."

After he was invited to show his work at several art symposiums in Shanghai, Guangzhou and in overseas cities such as Sydney, Quebec and Paris, more and more Chinese also started to appreciate his woodcarvings, drawings and oil paintings in China.

On his website, www.kongoloartstudio.com, he describes the themes in his works as "both aesthetic and ethical, from strength to gentleness, from brutality to tenderness".

"My subjects are masks, African modern masks and even in my paintings you see masks as well," he says. "When you look at African traditional art, it's based on masks and I'm more close to African traditional art, it's my source of inspiration."

If it's any indication of his success, the Beijing municipal government invited him to create a piece of art to be installed in the Olympic Park in the city in time for next year's Olympics. He intends to do a 4-meter high stainless steel sculpture depicting an audience watching the Games, he says.

By Bryan Virasami

(China Daily August 17, 2007)