Born in 1977 in Île de France, lives and works in Montpellier.
Mixing drawing and photography, Hélène Jayet's work questions colonial history and the arbitrary status given to individuals by societies. Her photographic research began with a study of Afro hair, carried out through encounters with models whose common point is their African origins.
This first research, Chin-up - colored only!, is a counterpoint to that of Casimir Zagoursky who, at the beginning of the century, photographed the richness of the indigenous hairstyles of Africa, immortalizing them in his numerous travel diaries. In contrast to Zagoursky's voyeuristic perspective, Hélène Jayet presents an approach that resembles a performance. Her project includes both the photographic act and the set-up phase in the studio: the discussions with the people she is portraying - who are always Afro-descendants - and the general invitation to proudly raise their heads (chin-up!)
First exhibited in 2013, the Chin-up - colored only! series continues to grow and offers a space for Afro-descendants to take control of their image. The series dives into an African iconographic history that colonisation has transformed into a series of acts of predation, and proposes a way out... By raising the chin!
From this work, the artist has returned to drawing and developed a new style. Starting with images gleaned from historical works, photographs or canvases, Hélène Jayet reinterprets, blackening her Canson, point by point, until the original image is blurred, forcing us to step back.
An extension of her photographic work, this practice transforms the pixels of the prints into a series of ink stains, which are sometimes densely populated on her sheets, and recreates imaginary landscapes. Realistic or abstract, these drawings are intimate. They trace the memory and identity of the artist, and travel between Mali and the Basque country, from music to dance of Béjart.
The latter, developed during residencies in Dakar, Bamako or Ifitri in Morocco in 2019, were shown for the first time in Paris. The artist's photographs have been exhibited at the La Gacilly festival, the Zinsou Foundation in Benin, the Rencontres photographiques de Guyane, the Bamako and Dakar biennials, as well as at the Macaal in Marrakech, the BOZAR museum in Brussels and the Afrikan Museum in the Netherlands.
CURRICULUM VITAE
SOLO SHOWS | Selection
2021
Colored Only, Africa 2020, Halle Tropisme, Montpellier – France
Colored Only, Galerie La Chambre Claire, Université Rennes 2 – France
ESSENTIEL, Action du MO.CO, Montpellier – France
2019
Colored Only, Galerie Véronique Rieffel, Bushman Café,
Abidjan – Ivory Coast
2018
Colored Only, Studio live, Afropea Massilia, Friche Belle de Mai,
Marseille – France
Chroniques Maliennes, «I love Africa» Festival de la Gacilly Baden – Austria
2017
Colored Only, Rencontres Photographiques du 10 eme, Paris – France
Chroniques Maliennes, «I love Africa» Festival de la Gacilly – France
2014
Colored Only, Alliance Française, Summer of Photography,
Bruxelles – Belgium
2013
Adoptés, Conseil Général de Haute-Garonne, Toulouse – France
Adoptés, Les Olivétains, Saint-Bertrand de Comminges – France
2008
Chroniques Maliennes, Festival du Scoop et journalisme, Angers – France
GROUP SHOWS | Selection
2022
Colored Only - "A corps perdu" Cité des Arts de la Réunion, Saint-Denis
2020
SMALL, 31 PROJECT, Paris – France
Galeristes, 31 PROJECT, Paris – France
Messe pour le temps présent, variations (curated by : Charlotte Lidon),
31 PROJECT, Paris – France
2018
Colored Only, Biennale Africaine de Bamako « Afrotopia » Afrikan Museum, The Netherlands
Colored Only, « The politics of images », Festival Foto International
Ipatinga – Brazil
Colored Only, BRIDGE Off Biennale de Dakar, Musée de la photographie de Saint-Louis – Senegal
Colored Only, « Africa is no Island », Musée d’Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden, Marrakech – Morocco
2017
Colored Only, Biennale Africaine de Bamako « Afrotopia », Musée National du Mali - Mali
Colored Only, Rencontres Photographiques du 10 eme, Paris – France
Colored Only, « The politics of images », Festival Foto International Belo Horizonte – Brazil
2015
Colored Only, Embodied Spaces, Gallery Framer Framed,
Amsterdam – The Netherlands
2014
Colored Only, La parole aux femmes, Fondation Blachère, Apt – France
Colored Only, « Where we’re at – others voices of gender », Summer of photography BOZAR Brussels – Belgium
Colored Only, Festival ÉMOI photographique d’Angoulême – France
2013
Chroniques maliennes, Distant Horizons, Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, – UK
2011
Nous Somme(s) Transphotographiques NORD[S], Tri postal Lille – France
Colored Only, Festival Fotografia Europea Reggio Emilia – Italy
Colored Only, Circulation(s), Jardins de Bagatelle, Paris – France
2010
Chroniques Maliennes, Luang Prabang OFF Biennale , Luang Prabang – Laos
2008
Chroniques Maliennes, International Scoop and Journalism Festival,
Angers – France
EDUCATION
2001
École Image ouverte – Photography
École Emi – Cfd, Paris - Photojournalism
2000
École des Beaux-arts de Montpellier – Arts plastiques
WITH 31 PROJECT
PUBLICATION
EXHIBITIONS
2020
SMALL, group show
Messe pour le temps présent, group show, commissariat Charlotte Lidon
ARTFAIRS
2020
Galeristes, Paris