Drexel Gallery

Odyssey

Opening: 19:00-22:00 pm, January 29, 2026

On view through February 28, 2026

Artist Alicia Paz presents a new series of works that explore the symbolic richness of water and ceramic traditions as metaphors for identity, transformation, displacement, and belonging, approached from a hybrid and feminist perspective.

Inspired by mise-en-abîme structures—and by the history of ceramic tiles—Paz weaves together references ranging from the Mexican Talavera of her childhood to English and Dutch Delftware and Portuguese azulejos. This iconography, shaped by cross-cultural influences and historical resonances, reflects her own cultural hybridity and nomadic trajectory.

In the artist’s words: “I have always been drawn to mise-en-abîme structures, such as paintings within paintings. What fascinates me about ceramic tiles is that they are often hand‑painted objects and, depending on their origin, they incorporate a great deal of history and intercultural influences. As a child growing up in Mexico, I saw Talavera tiles in blue and white, and that experience resonated with me pleasantly later in life, when living in Europe, I encountered Dutch and English Delftware as well as Portuguese tiles. For me, it is a very rich iconography to explore, as it reflects my own cultural hybridity and my nomadic journey.”

The exhibition also engages with the notion of “translation” between media and cultural registers, and with the tradition of trompe‑l’oeil as a visual game in which one material imitates another. By evoking ceramics in her paintings, Paz both celebrates and elevates this craft while reclaiming the often‑invisibilized history of women.

Water appears as a central theme and conceptual connector. Although not always explicit, it is suggested through textures, marine creatures—such as octopuses and eels—boats from different cultures and eras, and the omnipresence of deep blue that links the works. The artist admits to being especially drawn to the octopus as a metaphor for painting: a creature that transforms fluidly, changes scale and color, and releases ink under pressure. Its metamorphic nature resonates with the painterly gesture and with the emotional volatility of artistic creation.

The recurring use of gold leaf adds a material dimension that evokes Baroque and Rococo ornamentation, where natural forms become sources of inspiration and visual splendor, while the large mermaid figure alludes to Northern European iconography. The repeated patterns that traverse the works draw from Mexican design traditions, and the horizontal bands layered over painted canvases evoke waves, suggesting the sea as a timeless connector linking cultures, geographies, and histories.

In this context, the mermaid emerges as a hybrid figure and feminist symbol: autonomous, powerful, and closely tied to nature. Embodying a fluid identity and intercultural resonance, she offers a poetic lens through which to explore themes of independence, transformation, and belonging. Born of imagination, she seeks to offer hope amid a world marked by growing repression and environmental devastation.

A numbered edition of silk scarves/textiles published by ArtLab – Women in Print Programme, UCLAN, United Kingdom, accompanies the exhibition, along with a text by art historian and critic Susannah Thompson, focused on the context and process of this edition.

https://corridor8.co.uk/article/paper-goes-swimming-alicia-pazs-women-in-print-residency/

The exhibition invites the public to immerse themselves in an aquatic and symbolic universe where the feminine and the marine intertwine in a visual dialogue that celebrates cultural diversity and the creative strength of women.

Drexel Gallery

Colina Azul 230-A, Colinas de La Sierra Madre, San Pedro Garza García, N.L., Mexico

+52 81 8303 3903

drexelgaleria@prodigy.net.mx

@drexelgaleria

www.drexelgaleria.com

Opening: 19:00-22:00 pm January 29, 2026 On view through February 28, 2026

Hours: Tuesday–Friday 10:00–18:00, Saturday 10:00–13:00

Odisea

La artista Alicia Paz presenta una nueva serie de obras que exploran la riqueza simbólica del agua y la tradición cerámica como metáforas de identidad, transformación, desplazamiento y pertenencia desde una perspectiva híbrida y feminista.

Inspirada por estructuras de mise-en-abîme— y por la historia de los azulejos, Paz entrelaza referencias que van desde la Talavera mexicana de su infancia hasta la loza inglesa y holandesa de Delft y los azulejos portugueses. Esta iconografía, marcada por influencias cruzadas y resonancias históricas, refleja su propia hibridez cultural y su trayectoria nómada.

En palabras de la artista:

“Siempre me han atraído las estructuras de mise-en-abîme, como las pinturas dentro de pinturas. Lo que me fascina de los azulejos cerámicos es que suelen ser objetos pintados a mano y que, según su procedencia, incorporan una gran cantidad de historia y de influencias interculturales. De niña, al crecer en México, vi los azulejos de Talavera en azul y blanco, y esa experiencia resonó en mí de manera placentera cuando, más adelante en mi vida, viviendo en Europa, me encontré con la loza holandesa e inglesa de Delft, así como con los azulejos portugueses. Para mí, se trata de una iconografía muy rica para explorar, en la medida en que refleja mi propia hibridez cultural y mi recorrido nómada.”

La exposición también dialoga con la noción de “traducción” entre medios y registros culturales, y con la tradición del trompe-l’oeil (trampantojo) como juego visual en el que un material imita a otro. Al evocar la cerámica en sus pinturas, Paz celebra y eleva este oficio, al tiempo que reivindica la historia, muchas veces invisibilizada, de las mujeres.

El agua aparece como tema central y conector conceptual. Aunque no siempre evidente, se sugiere a través de texturas, criaturas marinas —como pulpos y anguilas—, barcos de diferentes culturas y épocas, y en la omnipresencia del azul profundo que conecta las obras. La artista confiesa sentirse especialmente atraída por el motivo del pulpo como metáfora de la pintura: un animal que se transforma con fluidez, cambia de escala y color, y libera tinta bajo presión. Su naturaleza metamórfica resuena con el gesto pictórico y con la volatilidad emocional de la creación artística.

El uso recurrente de la hoja de oro aporta una dimensión material que remite a la ornamentación barroca y rococó, donde las formas naturales se convierten en fuente de inspiración y esplendor visual, mientras que la gran figura de la sirena alude a la iconografía del norte de Europa. Los patrones repetidos que atraviesan las obras provienen de tradiciones de diseño mexicanas, y las franjas horizontales superpuestas sobre lienzos pintados evocan olas, sugiriendo al mar como un conector atemporal que une culturas, geografías e historias.

En este contexto, la sirena emerge como figura híbrida y símbolo feminista: autónoma, poderosa y estrechamente vinculada con la naturaleza. Encarnando una identidad fluida y una resonancia intercultural, ofrece un lente poético para explorar temas de independencia, transformación y pertenencia. Imagen nacida de la imaginación, busca dar esperanza, en medio de un mundo marcado por la represión creciente y la devastación ambiental.

Una edición numerada de pañoletas/textiles en seda publicada por ArtLab - Women in Print Programme, UCLAN, Reino Unido, acompaña la muestra, así como un texto de la historiadora de arte y crítica Susannah Thompson, enfocado sobre el contexto y proceso de dicha edición.

https://corridor8.co.uk/article/paper-goes-swimming-alicia-pazs-women-in-print-residency/

La exposición invita al público a sumergirse en un universo acuático y simbólico, donde lo femenino y lo marino se entrelazan en un diálogo visual que celebra la diversidad cultural y la fuerza creativa de las mujeres.

Galería Drexel

Colina Azul 230-A, Colinas de La Sierra Madre, San Pedro Garza García, N.L., México

 +52 81 8303 3903

drexelgaleria@prodigy.net.mx

@drexelgaleria

www.drexelgaleria.com

Inauguración 29 de enero 2026. La exposición continúa hasta el 28 de febrero 2026

Horario: martes a viernes 10:00 - 18:00, sábado 10:00- 13:00

Exhibition at Allan Bank

National Trust, Grasmere, Lake District

Allan Bank is a place where radical ideas and creativity flourish in a beautiful setting. You’ll find an ongoing exhibition on the ground floor exploring how William Wordsworth influenced land conservation and tourism in the Lake District. Upstairs there are two gallery spaces with a changing programme of exhibitions.

Women In Print

9 March - 7 July 2026, Gallery 3.

A new collection of original artworks by 12 artists exploring the power and possibility of contemporary printmaking. Works by leading artists including 2017 Turner Prize winning artist Lubaina Himid, Helen Cammock, Emily Speed and Heather Peak.

Four artists a year are invited to work with research staff at Artlab Contemporary Print Studios (ACPS) at The University of Lancashire (ULan) as part of a unique residency programme.  Inspired by Gwyneth Alban Davis’ sense of community, resilience and creativity, the residency offers women artists at all stages of their career the time, skills, and resources to test new ideas. 

Each participating artist was invited to produce a limited edition print. One of the aims of the Women in Print project is to start conversations around the absence of women’s prints in national collections, and the value and preservation of heritage crafts and creative disciplines in educational institutions.

Prints on display by: 

• Artist A & Artist B 

• Helen Cammock 

• Rebecca Chesney 

• Anna Júlía Friðbjörnsdottir  

• Emma Gregory  

• Lubaina Himid 

• Sana Obaid 

• Alicia Paz  

• Heather Peak 

• Emily Speed 

• Jenny Steele 

Women in Print is co-curated by the University of Lancashire's ArtLab Contemporary Print Studio and Centre of Print Research at the University of the West of England Bristol.

Laberinto

Reflections on Chatsworth House

Opening 4 September 6-9 pm

Exhibition 5 September- 3 October 2025

Artist in conversation with Gabriela Salgado, Director of the Showroom, 18 September, 6pm

Somers Gallery is pleased to announce the solo exhibition ‘Laberinto’ by Alicia Paz.

The exhibition presents a multidisciplinary ensemble of works inspired by the historic Devonshire collections at Chatsworth House. The project is the result of Alicia’s research residency there, hosted by S1 Artspace in Sheffield. A production residency followed at Centre for Print Research, (CFPR - University of the West of England) in Bristol.

The project is the result of a partnership established in 2022-2023 between S1 Artspace, Chatsworth House Trust and Centre for Print Research at the University of West England. It is kindly supported by Alumno, The Freshgate Trust, the University of Sheffield’s School of Architecture and Sheffield Hallam University.

An accompanying publication with a foreword by Curator of Decorative Arts Sash Giles is available upon request.

https://somersgallery.com/exhibitions/alicia-paz-laberinto

Contact:

Somers Gallery, 96 Chalton Street, NW1 1HJ London, UK

Email: contact@somersgallery.com. Tel: +44 7709058103.

Opening Hours:

Tuesday to Saturday 12-6 pm.

To purchase edition by Alicia Paz published by CFPR:

https://cfpreditions.uwe.ac.uk/alicia-paz/

Residency at ARTLAB-Contemporary Print Studio- at UCLAN, Preston, 23-27 June 2025

I have returned for the second phase of my Artist Residency, as part of their Women in Print Programme!

https://artlabcontemporaryprint.org.uk/project/women-in-print/

https://vimeo.com/rtproductions/download/1098104138/a9be3fd821

Above is a link to a short film about my process, where I am being interviewed by artist colleague Tracy Hill. The film was produced by Roland Turner, as part of my residency at ArtLab’s Women in Print Programme.

A text written by Professor Susannah Thompson accompanies my final edition and is published by Corridor 8 at UCLAN. “Paper Goes swimming: Alicia Paz’s Women in Print Residency” is accessible via this link below:

https://corridor8.co.uk/article/paper-goes-swimming-alicia-pazs-women-in-print-residency/

I am pleased to participate in the following group exhibition in Paris!

I am excited to announce my participation in Photo London, with Bendana-Pinel Gallery!

The tenth edition of Photo London opens its doors at Somerset House

From 15 to 18 May, Preview Day 14 May 2025.

I will be showing work that is part of my series Labyrinth of Images - Reflections on Chatsworth House.

An accompanying publication published by Centre for Print Research in collaboration with S1 Artspace is available.

https://cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/cfpr-artist-residencies/

BOOTH G04 Exhibited Artists: Adam Jepessen, Alicia Paz, Caio Reisewitz, Dias & Riedweg, Miguel Rothschild, Niccolò Montesi

Contemporary art collector and diplomat, Juan Carlos Bendana-Pinel definitely put aside his career to open a gallery in the Parisian district of Le Marais in 2008. The focus was placed on creation in all its forms (painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation, drawing) and a program laying great emphasis on international artists, mostly European and Latin American.

Bendana | Pinel Art Contemporain participates in international fairs: FIAC, (OFF)ICIELLE, Paris Photo, Drawing Now (Paris), ART-O-RAMA (Marseille), Artissima (Turin), Loop (Barcelona), Arco (Madrid), ArteBA (Buenos Aires), ARTLIMA (Lima), Ch.ACO (Santiago), ARTRIO (Rio de Janeiro), ZONAMACO (Mexico City), sp-arte (São Paulo), Art | Basel Miami (Miami), artgenève (Geneva), Art Antwerp (Antwerp), miart (Milano), Photo London.

https://photolondon.org/exhibitors/2025-2/bendana-pinel-art-contemporain/

https://photolondon.org/about-3/

I am excited to participate in the following Forum at the Maison de l’Amérique latine, Paris!

4:15 PM - 5:45 PM • COMMITTED ART

Saturday, May 24

Moderator: Paula Forteza and Anne Husson

... The rights of women, indigenous peoples, minorities, and the invisible, the right to freedom of expression, freedom of borders, the protection of biodiversity, and the questioning of norms in an era of decolonial demands: these are some of the struggles that many established and emerging Latin American artists are engaged in today. Escaping political persecution, climate and economic crises, to chart a better future, asserting themselves amidst the upheavals of the contemporary art world: Latin American artists migrate and travel all over the world. Their research is an integral part of their production. Memory material, the exploration of origins, reconnection with traditions and know-how, and syncretic thinking all express the desire to make multiculturalism a source of wealth and strength. Through their hybrid practices, they redefine their relationship with others and with society, whether in their country of origin or in their host country, which they have sometimes expressly chosen.

As part of a a wider Forum L’AMERIQUE LATINE PARTOUT 23-25 May

MAL, 217, Boulevard St. Germain, 75007 Paris, France. culturel@mal217.org +33 01 49 54 75 00

www.MAL217.org

I am delighted to be artist-in-residence at Xenia Creative Retreat February 3-17, 2025.

“Xenia is a creative retreat situated in the bucolic landscape of North Hampshire, that provides artists with time, space and an environment for uninterrupted work. The programme invites creatives of all art forms to explore their practice away from their daily routine, allowing the inspiration of nature to stimulate creativity.”

https://xeniacreativeretreat.com

I am thrilled to be exhibiting at ARCO Art Fair in Madrid, with Bendana-Pinel Gallery.

March 5-9, 2025. Stand 9A09

https://www.ifema.es/en/arco/madrid

https://www.bendana-pinel.com

I am honoured to be taking part in this exhibition that seeks to celebrate and pay homage to women’s contribution to the history of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Grateful to Curator Claudia de la Garza for this endeavour! After being presented in Mexico City, the exhibit is now visible at a second venue, the Museo Casa Redonda in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Northern Mexico.

16 July- 5th October 2025 Open Tues-Sun 10:00-19:00

Av. Tecnológico s/n, Santo Niño, 31200 Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico

https://oem.com.mx/elheraldodechihuahua/cultura/abran-paso-disruptivas-mujeres-en-la-universidad-se-expondra-en-el-mes-de-julio-en-la-casa-redonda-24362201

My thanks to Michael Petry for including my work Crystal Slipper in this gorgeous publication! A dazzling exploration of mirrors, reflective surfaces, and selfies in contemporary art.

Launching 14 of November, 2024. Press contact: Kate Burvill, KBPR: kateburvill@gmail.com

CFPR at Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair

21-24 November 2024

I am excited to announce that Centre for Print Research will be participating in the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair 2024! Visit them to explore our Cabinet of Curiosities, where they’ll showcase exclusive Artists' Editions, including some of my work inspired by the Devonshire collections at Chatsworth House.

Don’t miss out on CFPR’s engaging talks and workshops, designed to captivate print enthusiasts of all ages! They also have a number of free tickets available for the show. If you would like to attend, please email cfprinfo@uwe.ac.uk, and we'll send you a link to register for your free ticket.

We look forward to seeing you there! https://woolwichprintfair.com

• TALK | INNOVATIONS: A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, Thursday, 21 November 2024

• 13:00 14:00

• TALK | WOMEN IN PRINT, Thursday, 21 November 2024

• 14:30-15:30

Alicia Paz, Explorations au féminin

Château de Haroué in Eastern France,

in collaboration with the

Centre for National Monuments of France.

26 May-3 November 2024

Finissage: Sunday 3 November 2-6 pm

I am grateful for this exciting opportunity to the Beauvau-Craon Family, to Art advisor Bénédicte Delay, to Anne-Isabelle Vignaud of the CMN, to Jocelyn Bouraly and the lovely administration staff of the château. Watch this space!

West Dean Artist Residency 2023-2024

I am pleased to announce I have been selected for this amazing opportunity!

As a Mexican artist based in London for over 20 years, I participated in 2019 in a residency at the Leonora Carrington Museum in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Being immersed in an important Surrealist collection was a catalyst for experimenting with different media, such as camera-less photography and sound, in dialogue with my painting practice. I would like to expand and build upon the dialogue I’ve begun with the legacy of Surrealism, exploring thematic bridges between the UK and Mexico, anchored in art historical connections. West Dean will be the ideal place to develop this creative journey further.

West Dean Founder Edward James thought of himself primarily as a poet yet his innovations in art, design and architecture mark him out as an unrecognised visionary of the twentieth century. Through his patronage and creative partnerships with prominent Surrealists such as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, as well as his support of artists including Pavel Tchelitchew and Leonora Carrington, James was involved in the creation of some of the most enduring representations of the avant-garde, including the iconic Mae West Lips Sofa and Lobster Telephone.

Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, Germany-New Presentation of the Collection

17.09.2022-31.12.2023

With the new exhibition floor in the north wing, the Kunstmuseum Magdeburg has more space for art. A large brass mansard roof spans the new building from the city side, while the inside of the monastery courtyard follows the medieval cubatures and blends in with the appearance of the cloister. Large windows open up the view of the city from the new exhibition space and enable the art to be staged in the light-flooded rooms.

The exhibition area offers space to present the results of the collecting activities of the last 20 years - primarily works of international contemporary art in painting and photography. These include works by Liliane Tomasko, Sven Johne, Brian Eno, Xanti Schwawinsky, Alicia Paz and Peter Herrmann.

Evensong, from Hanging Gardens series, mixed media on canvas, 2015, 210 x 170 cm, collection Kunstmuseum Magdeburg

Alicia Paz selected for residency at CFPR, UWE Bristol 2022-2023

The Centre for Print Research (CFPR) is a distinctive centre of research excellence based at the University of the West of England. It is a unique, multidisciplinary group that combines knowledge and skills across traditional and digital techniques to reflect, innovate and find creative solutions for the future of print. Established in 1998, the CFPR has developed partnerships with world leading academic institutions and an outstanding record in working with collaborators across a wide range of sectors, including fine art, design, material science and engineering.

In 2019 the centre was granted an award of GBP 7.7M from Research England’s ‘Expanding Excellence in England’ (E3) Fund to increase its internationally acclaimed empirical investigation into the artistic, historical, and industrial significance of creative print practices, processes, and technologies. It seeks to develop into a major globally recognised research centre for new printing methods, a contemporary and truly inter-disciplinary centre for the future, where external partners co-create research with researchers in state-of-the-art facilities. The new CFPR Laboratory space at UWE Bristol’s Frenchay Campus was opened in 2021.

The CFPR continues to expand its research capacity under four key research areas:

New Materials: Towards Sustainable Technologies

Digital Manufacturing: Additive, Subtractive, Hybrid

Print and Imaging: Reappraising the Past

Visual Art, Print and Artists’ Books: Methods and Making

CFPR Artist Residencies- Autumn 2022-23

The artist in residence programme presents a truly exciting opportunity for collaboration and the enrichment of the CFPR’s research activities. Artists and designers will make a body of work that contributes to the CFPR archive and the editions portfolio. They will bring a curiosity and range of interests in areas such as fine art, print, product design, robotics, electronics, software, manufacturing, and materials science, encouraging new and productive research partnerships. As well as producing a body of work, resident artists will deliver a range of inspiring talks and participative sessions to our researchers and student community. 

Alicia Paz is a painter and sculptor based in London who studied MA Painting at Royal College of Art in 2008 and Postgraduate Diploma at Goldsmiths College, London in 2000.

This Summer, Alicia has been researching the archives and historic collections of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, focusing on the lived experience of particular women, such as chef Dora Lee and also Lady Lucy Cavendish. She has also explored textiles, as well as fine and decorative arts, to inspire a new body of work using the technique of photograms. During her Autumn residency at CFPR, Alicia is developing translations of these photographic images into printed fabrics and other supports, with hand-painted interventions, to be displayed on a folding screen structure. The aim is to create a theatrical labyrinth of interrelated images, as a rich dialogue between painting, photography, print and sculpture. Alicia also hopes to make a three-dimensional edition in ceramic or glass, reflecting on costume and attire. While in Bristol, she will explore local historic locations to inspire further works in print.

Alicia’s project is developed in partnership with S1 Artspace in Sheffield and Chatsworth House.

https://cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/cfpr-artist-residencies/

I am delighted and honoured to be working with these remarkable institutions, in partnership:

https://www.s1artspace.org

https://www.chatsworth.org

https://cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CFPR-Visiting-Artist-Designer-in-Residence.pdf

Public art projects

Insel der Puppen

Public sculpture commission, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, Germany

This sculpture presents four-sided “tree” structure, (5.10 meters in height) inhabited by a assortment of female figures originating in different time periods. Ambivalent narratives play hide-and-seek among the branches. The women are not meant to be particular individuals, (although some are well-known) rather, they remain hinted at or anonymous within the sculpture. Through these portraits, certain archetypes can be explored. In the feminine landscape that emerges from the subconscious realm, psychological projections materialize and instinctively can take on grotesque, beautiful, humorous, or dramatic forms. Each character carries the potential for her own story, intertwining with those of other figures. The title came from a conversation with Mexican archeologist Elizabeth Baquedano; we discussed Mayan legends involving mythical heads in trees, and also the "island of dolls” in the canals of Xochimilco in Mexico, where a man has hung hundreds old, tired and dirty dolls on the trees of his little island. It is said that his young daughter drowned, and a doll was found in the water. This was the beginning of a kind of cumulative process for him, maybe a way of mourning. My own tree is not as macabre as this description, but I liked the sound of the phrase, as something more oblique. Other references are Julia Kristeva’s critical text on "Severed Heads”, analysing historically the head as symbol and metaphor, and Billie Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit”, against racism and oppression.  But these elements that inspired me are combined with several others, and only whispered. The piece remains ambiguous.

There is a long history linking trees and foliage with female figures, from Greek mythology to medieval European Folklore, to Renaissance and Baroque Grotesque ornamentation. In my own practice, I often use this motif to symbolize an existential position: the Self as a complex, hybrid being, traversed by multiple narratives, multiple personae, evolving organically over time, as in the life-cycle. 

This project was generously supported by Cemex Germany and the Mexican Embassy in Germany, SRE.

I'd like to thank Annegret Laabs, Uwe Gellner, and Judith Mader for making this project possible. I'd like to also thank Elizabeth Turrell, Jessica Turrell, Sebastian Anastasow, Klaus Pfeiffer, James Shearer (otherfabrications.com), as well as the staff at A.J. Wells, for their production and design assistance.

Edition of 25 signed and numbered prints, commissioned by Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, Germany

Silk-screen and digital print.  Collaboration with Michael Hall, Invisible Print Studio, London.

https://www.invisibleprintstudio.co.uk www             kunstmuseum-magdeburg.de/en/home.html

My piece The Super-Ego, the Id and their Ladies in Waiting (Mixed media on board,152 x122 cm, archival frame, 2013) has recently been acquired by the City of Paris Municipal Contemporary Art Fund, (FMAC).

Fonds municipal d'art contemporain de la Ville de Paris

1, rue Jean Mazet 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine – France Tél. : 01 46 71 20 53

julie.bigey@paris.fr   fmac@paris.fr     fmac.paris.fr    BLOG FMAC à l’école

Article published in Turps Banana Issue 18 pg. 18-23

Michael Szpakowski: Two visits to three different paintings by Alicia Paz

www.turpsbanana.com

www.furtherfield.org/user/michael-szpakowski

Exhibition catalogue for Tous, des sang-mêlés!

Essays (bilingual English and French) by Alexia Fabre, Frank Lamy and Julie Crenn

Published by
MACVAL - Musée d’art contemporain du Val de Marne
Place de la Libération, 94400 Vitry-sur-Seine, France
01.43.91.64.20

ISBN 978-2-916324-95-1

www.macval.fr/english

Cette exposition s’ancre dans l’actualité pour aborder la question de l’identité culturelle au travers de visions et d’expériences d’artistes : Qu’est-ce qui nous rassemble ? Comment se construit une culture commune malgré des origines toujours différentes / diverses ? Ces interrogations, en effet, agitent le monde.

Sous le patronage conjoint de l’historien français Lucien Febvre et de son ouvrage Nous sommes des sang-mêlés : Manuel d’histoire de la civilisation française (1950), ainsi que celui de Stuart Hall, père fondateur des Cultural Studies, cette exposition souligne la dimension fictionnelle de la notion d’identité culturelle. Le parcours imaginé par les commissaires est nourri de propositions soulevant des questionnements et apportant des éclairages sur ce qui nous réunit et nous distingue, sur la transmission et le devenir, sur le pouvoir et la résistance, sur l’individualité et le collectif… Par la voix d’une soixantaine d’artistes internationaux et d’une centaine d’œuvres, les identités culturelles, nationales, sexuelles… sont autant de thèmes ici questionnés. Si tous ont l’être pour sujet, certains sont perçus comme manifestes, d’autres soulèvent le débat — souvent passionnel, résolument politique, et d’autres encore font surgir de la mémoire les traces du passé, émerger le sensible, l’expérience, l’existence même, allant de l’instinct de survie au vivre ensemble.

Les œuvres réunies abordent ces thématiques à partir de situations vécues dans une optique d’échange et de dialogue. Si l’identité culturelle est une fiction, il s’agit de voir comment les artistes l’interprètent, l’interrogent, la remettent en question… en sortant de la perspective identitaire, trop souvent réductrice.

Comment se construit-on par rapport à la langue, au territoire, à la famille, à l’Histoire et sa narration, aux stéréotypes ? L’exposition met en espace des éléments d’un terrain du commun, où les altérités se déploient ensemble et en regard les unes des autres.

Chaque visiteur peut s’approprier, à travers l’histoire, la sensibilité, la parole et l’engagement d’artistes de tous horizons, âges et nationalités, des éléments de réflexion pouvant alimenter sa propre acception de la notion « d’Identité ».

Avec les œuvres de : Soufiane Ababri, Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Adam Adach, Nirveda Alleck, Francis Alÿs, Giulia Andreani, Fayçal Baghriche, Sammy Baloji, Raphaël Barontini, Taysir Batniji, Sylvie Blocher, Martin Bureau, Ali Cherri, Claire Fontaine, Steven Cohen, Bady Dalloul, Jonathas De Andrade, Morgane Denzler, Jimmie Durham, Ninar Esber, Esther Ferrer, Karim Ghelloussi, Marco Godinho, Mona Hatoum, Joana Hadjithomas et Khalil Joreige, Maryam Jafri, Katia Kameli, Jason Karaïndros, Bouchra Khalili, Kimsooja, Kapwani Kiwanga, Will Kwan, Lawrence Lemaoana, Mehryl Levisse, Violaine Lochu, Melanie Manchot, Lahouari Mohammed Bakir, Kent Monkman, Malik Nejmi, Nguyen Trinh Thi, Otobong Nkanga, Harold Offeh, Daniela Ortiz, Alicia Paz, Adrian Piper, Présence Panchounette, Pushpamala N, Athi-Patra Ruga, Zineb Sedira, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Société Réaliste, Tsuneko Taniuchi, Erwan Venn, James Webb, Sue Williamson, Chen Zhen