Group exhibition explores facets of femininity at Alliance Francaise

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

The group exhibition (Jan. 28 - Feb. 17) at Alliance Francaise, Dubai, in the words of participants, is “the fruit of a fortuitous meeting between artists.” It is a story of women (the exhibition is titled Feminin Pluriel), where a sharing and interaction between the artists, gave birth to a desire to tell a story together. To say a little, or say a lot, but say nevertheless. The artists want to express themselves as women. They would like to explore, among other things, intimacy and beyond, and bear witness to how they see and interpret femininity, also taking in consideration the diversity in the gender.

There are painters, photographers, ceramicists and goldsmiths among them. The medium of art is one of the ways, they feel, to embody and explore different facets of the feminine.

In their tribute to womanhood through their presentations, each of them decided to answer briefly the same questions. It was a matter of capturing the universe of each individual, in images and words. They felt deeply about the subject: all of them have created a whole new body of work for the exhibition. Among other things, each of them also respond to the question: “Among all of the artists you admire, which one inspires you the most”?

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Agnes Sheikh’s style is Figurative and she paints in acrylic on canvas. Her favourite artist is Edward Hopper. She is attracted to solitude and a melancholy atmosphere, both in exterior and interior environments. The scale is a representation of emotions and is also a self-portrait, she says.

Alexandra Raynaud is an art photographer. Her style is graphic and colourful, and she uses pixels for the aim of illustration. She sublimates and contrasts architecture, encounters and landscapes, and is also inspired by Hopper. She would like to seize the unusual, and uses caressing colours to always sublimate the perspective.

Alison Ladegaillerie is a ceramicist. She uses pure, Arabic calligraphy in sculpture and porcelain. The artist she admires is Zaha Hadid. She is inspired by Nature, is observant of movement and is keen to capture the curves in her work.

 Caty Cordahi views people.

Ana Escobar is a goldsmith. She goes for the refined, spare and personal narrative in her techniques. Her mediums are mixed — she uses metal, glass and textiles in her work. Her artist of choice is Óscar Muñoz.  She likes to observe the relationships between people and the objects around them. She spends hours on reflecting on Time, Identity and human and geographic borders. She questions Memory (both collective and individual), Distances and Absences. Bénédicte Joland-Chazelle is a painter. Her style is Figurative and she works in acrylic or oil on canvas or wood panels. Her Muse is artist Salvador Dali. She contemplates nature and is inspired by Symbolism. She would like her work to provoke dreams.

Bianca Dolman is a painter. Her style is Pop Art and Graffiti. The techniques she uses include Dripping and Superposing. Banksy is the artists she roots for. She likes to explore Contemporary Art, examine new graphic techniques and create contrasts with colours.

Caty Cordahi is a painter whose style is Abstract Expressionism. Her medium is acrylic and photos on canvas. Her artist of choice is Francis Bacon. Forgetting and focusing on movement and action; translating reality via colours and textures; and creating an emotional experience through expression, are her forte.

Christiane Gubler is a figurative painter, working in mixed medium, combining them. An artist who works in acrylic, Vincent van Gogh inspires her. She is also inspired by travelling and like to contrast colours, light and shadows.

Françoise Le Gall is a painter. Contemporary Expressionism is her style. An artist in acrylic on canvas, she is fond of Leonardo da Vinci. She is always dreaming of the next project! She spends time drawing and tries to “escape by creating”. Géraldine Lenogue is a visual artist who works in the Figurative Abstract style. Using Neo Art Deco techniques in mixed media and specialising in calligraphy, marquetry, ink and acrylic-on-wood panels, her vote is for Canadian artist Myriam Schapiro.  She likes to read and reread The Art of Joy, the monumental historical novel by Italian actress and writer, Goliarda Sapienza. Lenogue looks for Beauty everywhere — and happily, often finds it. And of course, she can never forget Mary Poppins.

Marie F-Turner is a visual artist who works in Contemporary Imaginative style. She paints in acrylic, does collages and composes photos. She gives thumbs up for Pablo Picasso, creating an imaginary world made of Lines, Colours and Forms, which strive to mix and combine in harmony.

Viktoria Awana Ebode is a photographer. She calls her style “meticulous, contrasting and colourful.” She likes Travel and Digital Photography and her artist of choice is Jord Hammond. Naturally, as a photographer, she would like to transmit without a word being spoken. She aims for felt emotions, captured by the camera. For her, photographing is synonym of sharing. Virginie Ellis is a photographer who focuses on Landscape, Street Photography and Portraits. She is mesmerised by the mystery inspired by black and white photography in the style of Bresson and colours amplified in the style of Meyerowitz. She credits Bokeh for its magic. (In photography, Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image). Henri Matisse is her inspiration and she wants to render the normal, sublime. She likes to convey an emotion and tell a story.