Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga (born 1991) is a contemporary painter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo whose Afrofuturism works[1] have been exhibited across Africa and in Europe and the United States.
[6][4] Kamuanga Ilunga studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa, but became disillusioned[5] and left the school after a short time to help form the M’Pongo art group.
[9] Kamuanga Ilunga's Afrofuturism paintings[1][10] depict the class of culture and technology[11] and are created in acrylic and oil on canvas from posed photographs of live models.
[12][4] One major focus of his work is the coltan industry in his home country and "the contrast between the rare metallic ore's role as a vital component in the infrastructure of our digital age and the legions of underpaid workers who dig it out of the earth by hand.
"[13] The figures in his paintings allude to European portraiture, dystopian science fiction and traditional Congolese sculpture and textiles, allowing him to "tattoo the badges of contemporary technology into the skin of those who procure these materials for others' profit.
Striking classical poses and draped in sumptuously rendered fabrics, the figures in his paintings are frequently depicted alongside ritual objects that have fallen out of use, while their skin is adorned with patterns reminiscent of computer chips – a reference to coltan, the raw material exported in vast quantities from the DRC for use in modern technologies worldwide.