PÉLAGIE GBAGUIDI
"As a painter, I have included matter as a dimension into the manner to perceive the real. I am at an intersection between the material and in the immaterial. It has to do with the order of breath and the unseen. Working in such a space helps me to see a different reality and to decipher my outlook, as if I was turning transparent and that, at that very moment I could merge with my surroundings…
Recently the body of my work has evolved into frescos, in order to contemplate the signs which came to me like visions... Today, it is necessary to look upon history through different angles. My artistic engagement leads me to face the history of my origins, the history of black people through time, to better understand the cultural, social and economical issues of the world which I am part of. '
PĂ©lagie Gbaguidi, was born in Dakar in 1965 from Benin origin. She graduated from the Beaux Arts, Belgium in 1995. She works and lives in Brussels, Belgium. Her recent exhibitions include, the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, Afrika Museum Arnhem, Gallery Ifa, Berlin and Stuttgart, Pan Africa Festival Algeria and Show Off Fiac.
Pélagie Gbaguidi's work can be seen as an ensemble – an anthropologic frieze; using working material as painting, photo, writing, drawings, installation, as reflections of individual and collective memory.
Her stance as a "griot" is an engagement towards the collective. Her definition of "griot" is one, who through the spoken word can operate in different artistic fields, creating a link between the contemporary and traditional. Her approach to her heritage takes on a critical and innovative form. In a poetic sense, the "griot" has the power to trigger in each of us the need for introspection. He absorbs the words of the ancestors to shape them with notions of his times into a "ball of grease" that he leaves in the belly of the passer-by. In a practical sense, he breaks the commonplace rhythm, by inserting subtle incidents, integrating his part of eternity.
Statement of the Installation « Le Chariot »
This work is an initiatory trip into living memory and ancestral worship. Belief is extremely rooted in Africa through rituals, which place favour on the notion of the sacred, of life, and of death. It is perhaps urgent to settle this question at the striking hour of globalisation. This philosophical and spiritual concept finds a universal echo today.
Selected Exhibitions & Projects
| Biennale de la photographie Africaine, Bamako | 2001 | |
| Musée d'Art Moderne et contemporain de Liége, Passages Belgique | 2001 | |
| Biennale de la Photographie Bamako Rites Sacrés Rites Profanes | 2003 | |
| Rhizome, Espace d'Art Contemporain, Torcy,France | 2003 | |
| Biennale de l'Art Contemporain Africain, Dakar | 2004 | |
| Rites Sacrés Rites Profanes Mexico/ exposition collective | 2004 | |
| National Black Fine Art Show, New York | 2005 | |
| Centre Wallonie Bruxelles, Paris | 2005 | |
| National Black Fine Art Show, New York | 2006 | |
| Biennale de l'Art Contemporain Africain, Dakar | 2006 | |
| Musée d'Art moderne, Saint Domingo, République Dominicaine |
2006 | |
| Casa Africa, las Palmas de Canarias, Spain |
2007 | |
| Black Fine Art Show Atlanta |
2007 | |
| Dockanema festival du film Mozambique |
2007 | |
| Museum of Modern Art Arnhem Nerthelands |
2008 | |
| Biennale de l'Art Contemporain Africain, Dakar |
2008 | |
| Exposition Musicale Conservatoire Royal de Musique Bruxelles |
2008 | |
| Museum National Modern Art Alger festival panafricain |
2009 | |
| Ifa Institut Berlin Dak'Art |
2009 | |
| Apex pro art e.V Göttingen solo show |
2010 | |
| Show off , fiac off , Galerie Girot | 2010 |
Forthcoming Exhibitions
| Residency Thamgidi Foundation | 2011 | |
| Divine Comedy | 2012-2013 | |
Selected Publications |
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| N.Paradoxa, International Feminist Art Journal, London, UK | 2002 | |
| Le Monde 2 oct 2003 | 2002 | |
| V Rencontre de la photographie Africaine Bamako | 2003 | |
| 6ème Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain Dak'art 2004 | 2004 | |
| « L'imaginaire de Pélagie « » portait de la RTBF réalisé par Olga Baillif & Katy N'Diaye | 2005 | |
| « la visite est terminée » edition la trame | 2006 | |
| 7ème Biennale de l'art africain Contemporain Dak'art 2006 | 2006 | |
| Victoria et albert musuem The unconfortable truth catalogue | 2007 | |
| L'afrique Miroir Dak'Art | 2008 | |
| L'homme est un mystère ODDCC Côtes d'Armor | 2008 | |
| Slavery in Art and Literature Frank & Time |
2009 | |
| African Women MAMA Alger |
2009 | |
| Non pas ce soir La trame Espace Regards | 2010 | |
Prizes |
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| Fiacre de la DRAC REUNION pour le projet 'Le chariot de l'humanité.' | 1999 | |
| Prize Res Artis for A residency in Air Krems Progamm Austria Biennale de Dakar | 2006 | |
| Prize Thamgidi Fondation Biennale de Dakar | 2008 | |
Art Collections |
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| Artothèque île de la Réunion | ||
| Holocauste Memorial Fondation | ||
| Illinois Casa Africa Las Palmas Grand Canary |
