Cover image: En-corps nb 4 by Y. Touré and Analyse, Self-portrait by Célia Malice Agboloto
© Entrée to Black Paris

Have you heard of dotwork tattoos?

Artists who specialize in this style of tattooing create entire images, shading, and visual depth using nothing but individual dots.

Célia Agboloto—aka Malice—began her journey toward portraiture through this practice.  

Her mesmerizing work is currently on display at the Cloître des Billettes (Paris' only remaining medieval cloister), near the Hôtel de Ville and the BHV department store in the 4th arrondissement.

Entrance to the Cloître des Billettes
© Entrée to Black Paris

Agboloto hails from Martinique and Togo.  Her pseudonym, "Malice," is a contraction of the names "Merry" and "Alice."  Though one could easily be tempted to connect her practice to that of the neo-impressionists of the 19th century, her former activity as a tattoo artist is what inspires the work she does today. 

Gallerist Aude Minart of La Galerie Africaine, an itinerant gallery that specializes in contemporary African art, is presenting Agboloto's work for the first time this summer.  Minart selected multiple self-portraits that reflect the duality of the artist's spirit through a myriad of dots created with markers or stamps. 

Célia “Malice” Agboloto and Divinity II
© Entrée to Black Paris

Dualité
Acrylic paint and marker dots on cotton canvas
© Entrée to Black Paris

Dualité (detail - left)
Acrylic paint and marker dots on cotton canvas
© Entrée to Black Paris

Dualité (detail - right)
Acrylic paint and marker dots on cotton canvas
© Entrée to Black Paris

Agboloto also creates abstract works.  Several of her Phototype paintings are on display at the cloister.

Phototype I
Acrylic paint and paint dots on cotton canvas
© Entrée to Black Paris

The works that I found most intriguing were two self-portraits made from remnants of canvas that the artist stitched together and glued to a board.

Because she created them at a particularly challenging time in her life, she named them "Resilience."

Résilience I
Acrylic paint and marker dots on sewn strips of cotton canvas on plank
© Entrée to Black Paris

Résilience I (detail)
Acrylic paint and marker dots on sewn strips of cotton canvas on plank
© Entrée to Black Paris

Résilience II
Acrylic paint and marker dots on sewn strips of cotton canvas on plank
© Entrée to Black Paris

Résilience II (detail)
Acrylic paint and marker dots on sewn strips of cotton canvas on plank
© Entrée to Black Paris

Résilience II (signature)
Acrylic paint and marker dots on sewn strips of cotton canvas on plank
© Entrée to Black Paris

As is Minart's custom, lost wax bronze sculptures by artists from Burkina Faso punctuate the exhibition.

Les Grandes Mains
Al. Derme
Bronze - Lost Wax Technique
© Entrée to Black Paris

Several terra cotta works by the recently deceased Senegalese artist, Seyni Awa Camara (1945-2026), are also displayed.

Works by Seyni Awa Camara
© Entrée to Black Paris

Célia “Malice” Agboloto will be on display through July 4, 2026.

Agboloto will be present at a cocktail reception to be held on Thursday, July 2 from 6 PM until 10 PM and on the afternoon of July 4.

Célia “Malice” Agboloto
© Entrée to Black Paris

Cloître des Billettes
24 rue des Archives
75004 Paris
Metro: Hôtel de Ville (Lines 1 and 11)
Hours: 11 AM - 7 PM daily

Contact gallerist Aude Minart at aude.minart@gmail.com.