ABOUT
King Houndekpinkou (b. 1987) is an artist who lives in Paris and works between France, Japan, and Benin. He is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC).
Raised in the suburbs of Paris, Houndekpinkou’s early exposure to 1990s Japanese popular culture (anime, manga, and video games) sparked a lifelong fascination with Japan. In 2012, during his first visit, he discovered the existence of the six historical cities of ancestral Japanese pottery known as the Roku Koyō (Bizen, Echizen, Seto, Shigaraki, Tamba and Tokoname). Drawn particularly to Bizen-yaki (Bizen’s ceramics), he returned annually to train with local potters of the Keramos group, notably Toshiaki Shibuta, whom he considers his “Clay Father.”
In Bizen, Houndekpinkou sensed deep affinities between Shinto-inflected ceramic rituals and the Vodun traditions of his Beninese heritage, as both share common animist roots. In 2016, he started Terres Jumelles, an ongoing platform connecting pottery communities in Benin and Japan.
His vessels operate as hybrid forms, positioned between sculpture, ritual object and archive, activating shared cosmologies rather than fixed identities. Infused with a sense of imagination and fantasy, they transform material into forms that are at once spiritual, narrative, and otherworldly.
In 2017, his work was included in museum exhibition Regarding George Ohr: Contemporary Ceramics in the Spirit of the Mad Potter (Boca Raton Museum of Art, USA), curated by Garth Clark, situating his practice within a lineage of artists who have radically expanded the conceptual and sculptural possibilities of the vessel.
A milestone came in 2025, when he exhibited his monumental ceramic sculpture White Totem of Light at the Giza Pyramids, highlighting his dedication to craft, materials, and the universal dimension of his work. That same year, he launched A GOOD SPACE in Melun, France both his personal art studio and a creative label that extends his practice. Conceived as a platform for experimentation, collaboration, and cultural exchange, it serves as a creative hub, supporting the broader artistic community and fostering new forms of expression across disciplines.
King’s work is shown internationally in museums, biennales and art fairs across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. His work is held in prominent public collections, including the Grassi Museum of Applied Arts (Germany), Boca Raton Museum of Art (USA), the Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum of the Korea Ceramic Foundation (South Korea) and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum (USA).
Photo credits: © 2023 KPELR Studios for Glenfiddich