What creative spaces are available to a woman and daughter of Algerian immigrants, aware of her ancestry? This question incites Maya Inès Touam to study her forefathers, and perhaps also her peers. For Replica, the artist immerses herself in the œuvre of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), which she borrows from or “samples”—to cite musical practice—weaving in mentions of Africa, her “continent of origin”, and producing many impertinent homages. Ananas et Joujou (“Pineapple and Toy”, 2020) refers to Ananas et Anémones (“Pineapples and Anemones”, 1940), Icare, le Revenant (“Icarus, the Phantom”, 2020) echoes Icarus (1943-47), and L’Enfance, la Mer (“Childhood, the Sea”, 2020) calls up Polynésie, la Mer (“Polynesia, the Sea”, 1946). By placing creolization at the heart of her work, Touam creates a new visual vocabulary, as playful as it is scholarly, conceived as a rhizome at the intersection of several eras.
From July 6 to September 25, 2022
