Frank Schroeder was born to a French mother and a West African father. His family moved to the Ivory Coast where he lived through the First Ivorian Civil War. He found solace in studying the philosophy, literature and artwork of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2004, his gallery in the Ivory Coast was ransacked in the aftermath of the revolt and all his work was destroyed. Schroeder’s work explodes with a vibrancy of colour and breadth of expression.

In his paintings, Schroeder struggles with the dichotomy of decadence and decorum. The tension in his work reveals his yearning for indulgence but also for absolution through an unforgiving intellect.